It's Never Really Over
by The Ashes Fan
Summary: The Apocalypse was averted, now the new leader of Heaven wants to teach Dean everything comes with a price, the prize for learning is simple - his brother. With Castiel's help, will Dean learn more than he bargained for about his feelings? Possible mpreg
1. Chapter 1

**Any and all mistakes are my own, this is unbeta'd so any errors I apologize for.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, I'm only borrowing the characters for a bit for my own amusement, love to know what you think, and the title is only 'cause I couldn't think of one, therefore its subject to change sometime in the future.  
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**Warnings: References to torture, M/M pairing, possible future mpreg.**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter One<span> - Nothing's Set In Stone**

_"What are you gonna do now?"_

It was when he was talking to the hunter. His hunter. About what the future would be like now for him, what he'd be doing upon his return to heaven. He seemed shocked about it, started speaking against His name. His father's name. He started calling him God's bitch, but he's a celestial being after all. A soldier, an Angel of the Lord. What does he expect him to do now its all over?

He's still angry though, and on the surface Castiel believed it only to be anger at the turn of events that have taken Sam away from him permanently, but its more than that. Dean can feel it, even if he doesn't realize the reasoning behind it yet, which if anything only aided in making him even angrier than he already was, which was saying a lot in itself. He was shouting his fury, making it known towards Castiel that he was less than satisfied with the turn of events and what they had led to.

_"What about me huh? Where's my grand prize? All I've got is my brother... IN A HOLE!"_

Things changed in then in the moment after that last outburst. That's when the car suddenly swerved into the middle of the road before coming to an abrupt, jarring halt that would have usurped anyone sitting in the passenger seat without a seat-belt. Anyone but an angel perhaps. And it was when this angel turned his gaze upon the driver that he suddenly let out a startled gasp. With a quick rush of breath being released from his slack jawed mouth, he didn't even have to think twice before touching his hunter lightly on the forehead to transport him. He then positioned him to be lying flat on the grass beside the road in a moment. The Impala, the receiver of this angel induced transports precious 'baby' remained idling securely beside them, blocking their view of others and others views of them... for the most part at least.

Castiel was beside himself with worry - something uncommon to his senses in the vessel now he had been returned to his full angelic status, and something which almost overtook his mind completely. He'd always been resigned to his fate before, and he'd trusted Dean Winchester, whatever happened, that everything would be worth it somehow. And it was. They managed to avert the apocalypse, and when Castiel had been brought back by whom he could only presume was God, his father himself, he'd tried to do the best he could in that situation. The best to help him, help Dean.

Seeing him kneeling there, alone and so broken in more ways than one, at the sight of where Sam must have jumped into the pit, taking Lucifer, Michael and Adam with him, taking away the remains of all his family, Castiel did the only thing that was in his power. He walked towards the hunter slowly, seeing the tears that left his eyes freely, only one green eye visible to him - for the other was swollen shut, and just stared down at him, until he was noticed and Dean spoke the words,

_"Cas, you're alive?"_

There was only one way I could reply in the face of what had happened.

_"I'm better than that."_

Before lightly tapping him on the forehead, and healing the hunter of all physical wounds, so that his face, that beautifully sculpted face, would be as good as new again. And staring into those two green eyes, I was pleased to have been at least a small help to him, to Dean... to my friend, the friend I had grown fond of, ever since the first moment I set my eyes on him after I'd raised him from perdition.

Castiel was looking into those eyes now, or at least what he could of those eyes, the memories swirling around quickly in his brain while Castiel desperately repeated calling Dean's name over and over again, the tone becoming more desperate and confused before,

"Dean please listen to me, if you can hear me send me some sort of sign, tap my arm, flutter your eyelids, make a noise... anything, just to let me know you're alive in there, please Dean!"

The angel's voice was becoming sharp in his worry, sharp as he touched Dean's forehead again with two fingers pressed lightly to his brow, trying to feel that pulse of energy leave himself to travel over Dean, that pulse which he used to heal him earlier, that should heal him now, _that should have maintained itself from earlier_.

Nothing happened. Dean wasn't healed like he should have been, and Cas didn't understand it, he should be healed right now, but if anything to Castiel he looked _worse_. His breathing was audible to him, but only slightly over Castiel's own. His own breathing was rickety, unsure and that was surely a part of the adrenaline he could feel pulsing in his veins right at this moment, but Dean's breathing was labored, sounding more painful as the time passed and catching every now and again if he breathed that bit too deeply.

Castiel placed one hand lightly on Dean's cheek as one single, solitary tear slipped from his eye. He had no idea what to do, he couldn't help, and what if transporting caused Dean more harm than good? He couldn't bear to put him to even more harm than was necessary, not after everything that had already happened to him today. He wanted to help Dean, not harm him, more than anything right now though he wished to heal him.

Running his bloody fingers through his messy hair, Castiel was practically beside himself. Every bruise to his body, every cut to his skin, everything was back and Dean wasn't running on adrenaline now, when his injuries returned in the car he had instantly been overcome with the severe pain and it would seem he'd either passed out, or fallen into some kind of coma. Castiel couldn't be sure which, he wasn't naturally of this planet, he wasn't a doctor, there were many things he didn't know about vessels, and that he had never needed to know. Now he was wishing he'd paid attention to Sam and Dean when they had returned from a hunt injured, so he'd at least know something about what to do for his friend. But he had never needed to know, as an angel healing was a part of his power, until now it would seem.

He settled for holding Dean's hand instead, whispering to him that he'd be ok, that he would heal him and that it would be permanent this time, all the while doubt started to creep slowly up into the edge of his spine... if he tried again, what if he made it worse? That was when he heard the noise behind him, it almost sounded like... a scrunched wrapper?

"Well, well, well, looky who we have here, I'd be almost shocked if it wasn't for the fact I'd planned this whole thing myself!" The voice muttered in an almost gleeful tone.

And when Cas turned around and his eyes, which resembled the frozen ices of the sea, saw the person walking towards them who matched that very individual voice, he was frozen in place, with only one thing on his mind, and escaping his lips...

"This isn't possible, you can't be here, you were _dead_..."

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><p><strong>So there is Chapter one my dears! Yes I know not the most exciting start, but its all setting the basis for the storyline to come. Any idea's who this mysterious person could be then? If so, tell me in your review! Thanks for reading, and reviews would be loved, hope you liked the start of this!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Any and all mistakes are my own, this is unbeta'd so any errors I apologize for.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, I'm only borrowing the characters for a bit for my own amusement, love to know what you think, and the title is only 'cause I couldn't think of one, therefore its subject to change sometime in the future.  
><strong>

**Warnings: References to torture, M/M pairing, possible future mpreg.**

**Note: I'd like to thank the three people who reviewed, Aislynnrose2010, Teh Abby and Mitternacht for taking the time to review my story, and I hope you and those who put this on your alerts all enjoy this chapter!  
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><p><strong><span>Chapter Two - Rules are Rules <span>  
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Casually dropping the scrunched up candy bar to the slightly damp earth as he walked forwards, Gabriel viewed his brother with a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Well, it's certainly good to see you again little brother!"

Castiel was stunned into almost complete submission just moments before his earlier outburst. He did not understand how this was possible, but the first question that sprung to his lips had nothing to do with Gabriel, instead it was,

"What did you do to Dean? I swear to our Father Gabriel that if you have harmed him indefinitely, then I will find you, and I will smite you down." He growled out, and if Gabriel tapped into the angelic side of himself right this moment he would see Castiel's wings curling and uncurling themselves viciously, feathers ruffled and on edge without Castiel's own knowledge of these actions.

Gabriel could see that this wasn't going as well for himself as he had hoped. Sure, Dean deserved a little bit of pain for all the trouble he had caused, after all it was him who had convinced Gabriel to go against his own brother, get involved in changing dad's big plan for the apocalypse, something he hadn't wanted any part of, and look where that had gotten him?

But even he could admit that he might have gone a little too far with this last trick of his, after all he didn't think that Dean would be hurt that badly. Since, let's face it, he thought, if Luci hadn't killed him outright then he should be grateful. Gabriel knew the Winchester's were used to a little bit of rough treatment, they were hunters after all, they weren't some china dolls, after all Dean had been to hell for Father's sake! And if he'd put his mind to it Gabriel was well aware his brother could have done a lot more to Dean than leave him with a couple… ok, ok a lot of cuts and bruises, he was also sure Dean would know that too. It was Castiel's reaction to Gabriel's little trick that confused him. Sure, he knew his little brother was attached to Dean, but to be as angry as he was now? He didn't think he had it in him in all honesty!

"Just chillax little brother! Get it? Relax, chill, chill-ax?" Seeing the blank, almost venomous look being shot his way Gabriel just sighed before continuing, "Ken doll there will be right as rain in a few weeks, and back to his old angst filled, surly self again before you know it, and you do know it. One simple look will tell you that his body has simply gone into shock from the sudden blast of pain from all his wounds reappearing from out of nowhere, and that he is only unconscious due to his body finding it as a means of protecting itself. Go on Castiel, take a closer look. He's out cold, not like he's going to mind if you give him a once over now is it?" Gabriel questioned, eyebrows rising once before lowering in the old trickster way, smirk placed on his face as he said this.

Keeping his eyes on his big, formerly dead brother, Castiel kneeled close beside Dean's head, and satisfied that Gabriel wasn't going to pull any tricks on him, he tore his eyes away to look down at the hunter. Placing his hand over Dean's chest and spreading his fingers, Cas channeled into his grace to quickly examine Dean's condition. It only took a matter of seconds before Cas' eyes shot open in alarm and slight worry.

"He needs to get to a hospital, he's fine for now but he has a punctured lung from the abrupt stop of the car earlier, the only thing stopping him from deteriorating further is you Gabriel. I don't understand. Why have you done this? How is this even possible?" Castiel questioned, eyes holding a panicky look about them in case Dean started to deteriorate any minute now he had pointed out Gabriel was the reason he was ok for now.

"Well Castiel, did you think you were the only one God decided to bring back this time round? What with Mickey and Luci stuck spending some quality time with one another in his old room, and Raphael throwing another one of his famous, and you know quite how famous they can be, they were the whispers of the Garrison at one point weren't they?" Gabriel staged whispered conspiringly before conceding to himself that it was most certainly a tough audience tonight and going back to the point on hand.

"Anyway let's get back on topic, what with him throwing one of those 'famous' fits of temper of his over the Apocalypse being averted and all, dear old Dad decided he needed someone he could at least moderately rely on in charge of the place, someone who at least… appreciated his last creations before he decided to leave Heaven. And of course, what with my extensive" Gabriel wagged his eyebrows when he said this, "research with humans, into humans, whatever you want to call it, then who better to place in charge of that lot upstairs than me? After all, I am the most awesome one out of all my brothers." Gabriel magicked another candy bar after his speech, and ripping the wrapper from the top he started to chew it while gauging the thoughtful face and many reactions that proceeded to play on Castiel's features.

Cas was silent for a moment after this speech of Gabriel's. He could see his father's logic in the plan, Gabriel may not be the best angel for the job, but he was willing to sacrifice himself for humans instead of taking sides with either Michael or Lucifer, and he would make a better replacement than Raphael ever would. Castiel wouldn't put it past Raphael to try and revive the apocalypse! Yes, Castiel could see why God had appointed Gabriel to be the deputy to his sheriff, as Dean would say if he was conscious, but there was still one thing that he did not understand,

"If you're the new God for all intense and purposes, then what are you doing here with me and Dean, and why did you undo the healing abilities I placed upon Dean earlier? I do not understand Gabriel." Castiel had gotten up to stand closely beside Dean at this point, so that he was not at a height disadvantage to his brother, not that it mattered when his brother was not only significantly older than himself, but also a lot stronger, as he was an Archangel after all. All he could truly hear was Dean's labored breathing, it was all he wanted to hear and he was paying close attention to it when Gabriel replied after a slight silence,

"It's… difficult. Dear old Dad is glad that the apocalypse was stopped, I'm positive he is. But in a way he's not so sure it was the best idea either. He wants to show that things come with a price, and between you and me" Gabriel mock whispers the next part of his sentence, "I think that's what the apocalypse was all about, after all Luci was right about one thing, Dad did make him the way he is for a reason."

Gabriel could see he had a rapt audience in Castiel now, and being quite the showman that he was, continued on with his explanation,

"And yeah sure you could argue Sam being stuck in the cage with Mickey and Luci is a price well paid from Team Free Will, and a good example for everyone else about what happens when you break the rules, but… well let's just say he took a detour on the way down" Gabriel winked at his brother then in a conspiratorial manner before continuing, "So Dad told me to get a little creative, and make sure that everyone will understand that everything, every action, has a consequence to it too and does in fact cost them something. Just because the big man isn't present upstairs doesn't mean he isn't paying attention to the things that both angels and people have been getting up to in his absence. So basically that's what I'm doing now."

Castiel stared at Gabriel for a long moment, tilting his head to the side questioningly, before waiting for his brother to continue,

"Look so Dean is unhealed because I wanted to prove a point, that point being that he's only human, he's not going to have you to fall back on forever, that he's going to have to start taking care of himself sooner or later, because there's no such thing as a "quick fix" in his chosen line of business. But I also did it to help you too little brother, because I like you, I don't think anyone but you would have had the style to Molotov Michael of all angels with Holy Fire like you did, so I wanted to give you a fair shot in this game."

Castiel's eyes darted away from Gabriel's at beginning of this sentence, looking almost embarrassed at the mention of molotoving Michael, the oldest Archangel no less, but as his sentence continued and he finished speaking Castiel almost in a low growl muttered out, "What game Gabriel?"

Gabriel at least had the decency to look sheepish at this display of obvious anger and distrust he had instilled in the younger angel. He knew how he must sound, but for his plan to work he had to look towards the bigger picture, and this was part of it. They'd all thank him one day… or at least that's what he hoped.

"The game is simple my dear little Cassie. I'm going to "adopt" Sammykin's for a little while, at least until I'm satisfied that Dean has learnt there's more to life than all this silly self-sacrifice for his dear little brother. Really their relationship isn't exactly healthy with all this co-dependency stuff going on, and I've been wanting a pet after all, and that moose will do nicely for now! But of course with games there also have to be challenges! I want you and Dean to help me, after all now that dear old Lucifer's back in the cage there's going to be carnage in hell, what with all the pissy demons around and-"

"What's this got to do with why you unhealed Dean to help me Gabriel?" Castiel cut in, and if looks could smite, Gabriel was sure he'd be a pile of smoked feathers on the floor long before now.

"Aaah! Impatient as always I see, that'll be the stick, still stuck up your ass, or at least that's what Balthazar would say." Gabriel retorted drily before hurriedly continuing, "Of course for this game, I couldn't leave Dean alone now could I? But at the same time I knew he'd call on you sooner rather than later, and we can't have you ruining my fun prematurely either can we? After all, you'd help him locate Sam, make sure the brothers were reunited, and Dean wouldn't learn a damned thing, and for that matter neither would Sam. So, for the foreseeable future, I've decided to, let's say, limit your angelic abilities."

At the look of horror creeping onto Castiel's face at the realization he'd become, as far as he knew, basically powerless again, more human than angel, Gabriel hoped that things would work out the way he was planning. It was all very fine and fun messing around with humans lives, teaching them lessons, after all that's why he chose to become a trickster when he'd escaped Heaven, but it was a completely different thing to mess around with another angel, a fellow brother when the odds were still stacked so high against him. He had to explain the rest of his terms before things got serious and the angel blades came out,

"Before you say anything, I'm not that cruel as to just leave you high and dry! Your grace is still there, it's just also locked away, metaphorically speaking, in a very large, practically unbreakable Enochian chained box right now, kind of similar to that small trifle humans say Zeus gave Pandora, metaphorically speaking of course. But you have six" And as if to prove his point he held up three fingers on each hand to display his point further, "amounts of energy allocated to you that I've siphoned off from your grace which you can use in any way your judgement sees fit before becoming powerless, and at which point you'll have to wait on my decision about Dean before getting your angelic abilities back. You'll still be able to fly though, even if you reach this point, but you can only fly within a five mile radius of Dean's location at any given time. See, aren't I such a generous big brother?" Gabriel finished, with a sweet, almost like butter wouldn't melt smile on his face. Castiel knew differently.

"What's in all of this for you Gabriel? You could trap me like you did before in the television, why take away the very essence that makes me an angel instead? Why was it so important for you to unheal Dean? It was my choice, and I'll do it again, limited amounts of grace available or not!" Castiel shouted, his deep voice rose as he spoke to his brother. He made a move towards Dean, to place two fingers upon his forehead once more, to heal him like he had done hours earlier when he felt his body freeze. Eyes trained upon Gabriel as he waited for his explanation,

"See Castiel, the reason being why I did what I did, is for me to know and you to wonder, but a little word of warning" His tone became harsh and serious at this point of the conversation, "The more you use the siphoned off energy of your grace, the weaker you'll become and also the more human. As it is you don't need to perform basic human functions, but if you use a batch of your grace, you may feel yourself become a little hungry from time to time, use another lot, maybe you'll become tired every other night or so and need to sleep, use some more, it'll take you longer to heal and so on and so forth until you're almost completely human. And by the end of it you won't even be able to fly the small amount of distance I've allocated to you without it having strong repercussions, let alone transport anyone. What use will you be to Dean then? You and I both know he has a problem with worrying about the people he loves." Gabriel ended, and with a flick of his hand Castiel could move again.

"I can see the logic in your explanation; except for the fact Dean doesn't love me. But what else am I to do then Gabriel?" Castiel's tone had started to become more aggressive again at this point, "I cannot leave Dean in such physical disrepair. You and I both know there is only one way." And with that Castiel went to touch Dean again perfectly willing to use one lot of his highly limited amounts of grace, he didn't hear Gabriel muttering to himself, didn't hear him as he went,

"That's what you think."

Clicking his fingers just before his brother could sacrifice an important part of himself, the last thing Castiel was aware of were the words, "Now, let the game begin!" before finding himself just inside the doors of a hospital located in South Dakota. He was in Sioux Falls General Hospital in fact, not far from the residence of one Robert Singer, with the Impala lounging sideways across the parking spaces outside. Holding a now not so unconscious Dean Winchester in his arms in the same manner of which a husband often holds his new wife across the threshold of their home, bridal style. None of this mattered of course, not when Cas noticed Dean's eyes open, partially aware. He only had the strength to mutter one word before passing out, before the doctors and nurses noticed him and rushed towards him, claiming the charge from his arms, asking him question upon question about what had occurred, did he know the victim, was he allergic to any sedatives or any other medications? But Castiel wasn't listening to any of them. He could only hear the one word Dean had uttered before he passed out. That one word which was replaying in his mind in a constant loop, the one word he thought to speak even while he was in so much pain. He didn't ask what they were doing there, what was going on or even mention Sam in his pained state, he only said one word.

That one word was his name. That one word was Cas.

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><p><strong>AN's: So here's the second chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed it, all the chapters from now on are going to be about this ****length, give or take a couple hundred words (Hopefully give a couple more) and now that you guys know where Sam is, I have a question for you all! **

**Would you guys like to see chapters in this story about whats going on with Sam/Gabriel, would you like them posted in a separate fic or would you prefer stuff just come out in general as the story goes along? (Gabriel will pop in again eventually I am sure, and I'm also sure he'll have a couple things to say about what he's got up to!) **

**Let me know in a review or PM please, 'cause then it'll help me with writing the next chapter (The next chapter for me is Chapter 6 though, I'm currently writing 5 and I'm about 1/3 through my plan for it)**

**Also would you guys like song suggestions for each chapter? I put down with each chapter the ones I listened when writing them for when I edit over them before publishing, if you want I can add them to this?**

**And lastly I plan to update this story once or twice a week, and if its a really good week once in a while I may update three times if I'm more chapters ahead than I expected/planned. Therefore the next chapter should arrive either Wednesday or Thursday!**

**I really do hope you guys liked this chapter, please leave me a review letting me know what you think! :)  
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	3. Chapter 3

**Any and all mistakes are my own, this is unbeta'd so any errors I apologize for.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, I'm only borrowing the characters for a bit for my own amusement, love to know what you think, and the title is only 'cause I couldn't think of one, therefore its subject to change sometime in the future.  
><strong>

**Warnings: References to torture, M/M pairing, possible future mpreg.**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Three – Time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty<span>  
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It is a well-known fact to the Winchester's that Angels don't need sleep. It was one of the first things Castiel revealed about himself to Dean, back when their relationship was still a tenuous, volatile thing. Back when Castiel still obeyed his orders, back when things were so different, yet in their own way, things were still so alike.

Castiel had sat down in the chair for visitors at Dean's bedside five days ago, and hadn't moved since that time. It brought back memories of another chair, another bed, another hospital to his mind. Castiel hadn't been able to help Dean then either, but for completely different reasons. That was the time when Dean had been beaten dangerously within an inch or so of his life by Alastair. It was the day that he had asked him to torture again, something he still wishes to this moment that he had never had to ask him, but orders were orders, and back then they had still meant something to him. He had been there for Dean to wake up to then, just like he would be there for Dean to wake up to now. More hours passed, and all the angel did to pass the time was examine Dean, examine the body he knew so well, the body he'd recreated cell by cell after saving him from Perdition. His thoughts on the man that he had saved hadn't changed much since the last time he had sat at his bedside while Dean had recuperated in a hospital bed, yet they'd also changed completely too. Dean meant more to him now, if that was at all possible. All he really knew was that he hated seeing him like this. Dean is and always would be the righteous man as far as Castiel was concerned, seeing him like this, all he knew was that he didn't deserve it, he truly had given enough without this new game Gabriel had decided to play.

It wasn't long after these thoughts that Castiel saw his friend start to come to life again, his fingers twitching slightly on his right hand side, the side where Castiel was sitting, which was the first bit of movement he'd performed in five long days. Seeing his eyes flicker open partly and the panic there as he went to grab at the hospital tube down his throat, making pained, confused noises, Cas was by Dean's side and kneeling on the hospital bed in an instant. Palms placed against his cheeks, staring into his eyes, calming him down, soothing him, before doing as Bobby instructed him to do on Dean's awakening and calling for a hospital nurse to check he was ok and that there was no permanent brain or memory damage.

After giving him the once over and explaining to him why he'd been kept sedated for so long – so that his body had time to heal itself, and checking he didn't need anything for the pain the nurse quickly left to continue on her rounds. When the door to his room shut quietly behind her with a tight "click" Dean waited a few moments before turning round to Cas and asking him, in a voice cracking and deepened with disuse,

"What the hell's going on Cas? One minute I'm driving along, talking about the future now there's no Sam, no apocalypse, next minute I wake up here with a tube down my throat seriously testing my gag reflexes! What happened? Why am I even here?" Dean looked towards the angel expectantly, hoping that the explanation would be simple and then he could get out of this damned hospital bed and continue on with his life, or whatever there was left of it anyway. Dean knew things wouldn't be that simple. So he just stared into the eyes of the angel and waited.

He didn't have to wait long before Castiel opened his mouth to speak, before he shut it again, just watching Dean as if to gauge his reaction to what he had to say.

"Just spit it out Cas, whatever happened I need to know." Dean muttered, voice half laced with fear and authority in equal measures.

Moving slightly towards Dean, Castiel decided to ease him into the information gently, telling him something he knew would both soothe and harm the hunter once the full terms were realized, "Sam is not, and never was, in the cage with Lucifer and Michael after they fell in." Cas felt a cruel tugging in his chest when he saw Dean's beautiful green eyes lighting up fractionally with an emotion he understood well but rarely if at all saw sporting the older Winchester's face anymore – Hope. He spoke quickly before Dean could ask him where his Sammy was and if he was bringing pie with him to celebrate, "But you cannot see him either Dean. He is in someone else's… care. Gabriel's care."

He could see the hope being wrenched away, pain crossing the features before Dean shut it away, and confusion taking prevalence for long moments before anger bloomed on his indignant face instead. This was something Cas knew well from Dean, something he could handle and talk him through.

"What the hell Cas? You mean Gabriel didn't die in that big face off with Lucifer? And what the hell does he want with Sam! Just wait until I get my hands on that dick, he'll regret ever touching my baby brother when I'm through with him!" Dean spat, anger twisting his features and colouring his thoughts before he went to pull the wires hooking him up to the IV's out of his arms and to swing his legs out the side, looking to anyone else like he was ready to go for round two with anything – human, angel or even archangel that dared get in his way.

Castiel was up and on him like a shot. Before his feet could hit the cold floor he'd grabbed Dean's wrists in one hand and he was using his lower body to push the majority of Dean back onto the bed, gripping his hip with the other, free hand. It happened so quickly that Dean was only aware of the inappropriateness of the position they were in together after several moments, instead caught up in looking into the angry eyes of the angel. Clearly, he wasn't about to be going anywhere anytime soon. Well, not if Cas had anything to do with it, and considering their positions it was looking quite likely that Dean was going to have to submit to someone else's will, at least for right now anyway. Just when he was about to say something along the lines of "personal space?" the door to the room Dean was being kept in opened and a very flustered looking, but very amused nurse went to step inside before stopping, giving Dean and Castiel the once over before chuckling,

"Good to see you up and about Mr. Novak, it would seem that you're otherwise engaged at the moment. I'll give you two lovebirds some alone time then!" She said quite clearly, and if Dean wasn't red already, the more than obvious wink in their direction cemented it for him. When she closed the door behind her Dean turned to an indifferent Castiel, who was watching Dean like he was something vast and interesting. He coughed tersely before saying,

"You know Cas, I kinda need my hands." Dean said, trying to put a lot of bravado and sarcasm in that one sentence. Seeing that he wasn't getting the hint, he continued to push on in a kinder tone, "You can let go of me now, I'm not going anywhere, I promise." It took a couple more moments before Castiel let go of his grip on Dean, on both his wrists and hip, before sitting back down in the seat he had vacated just minutes earlier, even though it had seemed like hours. Just for a moment Dean felt the loss of those hands acutely, before rejecting that thought violently from within him. Don't go there, something whispered from a deep corner inside him. And Dean had every intention of listening to it; it had served him well in the past.

Forcing a cough, the room was silent for a couple of moments before Dean swung his head round to face Cas and almost instantly regretting it. "She called me Mr. Novak and us two… lovebirds? What's going on here Cas? What did you say to them?" Dean asked, deciding to work himself up to the more difficult questions later.

Castiel for his part tried his best to look a little sheepish before answering in deep, gruff tones with a slight blush marring his cheeks, "When Gabriel arranged our arrival here, he also arranged our positions…" Looking at the confusion and slight horror starting to dawn on his charges face Castiel continued to plough on, "Into something I believe might be termed as the 'bridal style' by humans? When the doctors arrived they asked me a multitude of questions, none of which I knew how to answer when a doctor asked my relation to you. I believe I replied that we share a profound bond, therefore they may have taken this to have sexual connotations behind it." Castiel took a calming breath before continuing, now that that part of the story was explained, the rest would be easier to talk through with Dean. He could almost feel the embarrassment radiating off of him from his position in the hospital bed; however before he could continue a slight chuckle came from Dean.

"Well, as clueless as ever Cas, good to see some things never change. I take it you're the one who told them that my name is Mr. Novak, of all things?" Dean questioned, still curious to the choice of identity.

"Actually Dean, you are correct, it was my idea. I hope you do not mind but considering 'Dean Winchester' is thought to be deceased and the fact that I was unsure of which of your identities had been discovered or not, it was the only option I could think of. Bobby agreed that it was a good-"

"Bobby, wait Cas… Bobby is around here somewhere? Actually, where even are we?" Dean questioned, face going red at the teasing that would occur at his own expense once Sam found out about this, and then it hit him. Sam. They still had no idea where Sam was.

As if he could hear the thoughts spinning in his head, Castiel addressed Dean with a voice that could only be described as tender, "Were in Sioux Falls General Hospital Dean, and Bobby is indeed 'around here somewhere', in fact, he only left a couple of minutes before you woke to take care of some business he's been trying to deal with. A locator spell for Gabriel, and in extension, for Sam." He didn't tell Dean how unlikely it was that this would help them, he didn't need to. But Castiel knew that the thought behind it would be appreciated.

Almost as if on cue Bobby opened the door to the room slowly, eyes on something on his mobile phone, totally unaware of Dean's more than apt presence, "Oh balls! I still don't know why you idjits can't spell what you mean out in these text things, give me a line of Latin to translate any day of the week!" It was then that his eyes lifted from the screen, connecting with Dean's green orbs almost instantly. And if he didn't know any better, Castiel would say he could see the shine of tears in the older hunter's eyes.

In three wide strides he was across the room and holding Dean in a bone crushing grip, "Don't do that to me again son. If things weren't bad enough as it is without you having to land yourself in the hospital too." He huffed, before releasing the younger man who was like a son to him.

"I'll remember that for next time Bobby." Dean choked out, surprised at the pure emotion in Bobby's voice before feeling the flick of water on his face, causing him to shut his eyes and moan exasperatedly, "I am not a demon Bobby!" But still it caused a small smile to grace his features; some things truly never did change.

"Yeah well, better safe than sorry these days isn't it, ya idjit?" Turning to face Castiel, Bobby became all business again, "How long has he," at this point of the sentence he pointed a thumb to Dean, "been awake for?" He asked.

Not amused by the fact that he was being talked about like he wasn't even here, or worse, still in the coma, Dean huffed out, "I am sat right here you know, could've just asked me instead of the angel over there."

"Well I'm not asking you am I boy? Besides, nobody better to ask than an all knowing Angel of the Lord. Last time I asked you the time was during that hunt in Wisconsin, the whole place nearly burned down!" Bobby huffed out, but you could see the amusement shining through his eyes.

"That was one time Bobby, one time! When I was fifteen! And it wouldn't have happened if Sam hadn't turned the watch back an hour early the day before the clocks went back! You're never going to let that one drop though are you?" Dean said exasperatedly, falling back onto the pillows of his hospital bed and regretting the jarring motion that created.

It was at this moment that Castiel decided to get back to the topic at hand, knowing Dean would prefer that attention wasn't placed on him due to the pain his injuries had just caused him, which was obvious to the angel, but perhaps not to the room at large, "Not long. I was just about to find you and update you on Dean's progress and ask you how the search was going for the locator spell."

Bobby became practically just a hat wearing a scowl as he said, "Damn Rufus, he's gone and got himself arrested in England, needs someone to bail him out, and not only does he have the locator spell but some information about how to retrieve my soul from that damned demon. I've told him though, it'll have to wait, I'm not leaving you boy." Bobby said with a very pointed look towards Dean.

"Really Bobby, I need you to go more than I need you to stay, best case scenario this spell can help us get Sammy back, and the worst case? You come back with information on Crowley which will in turn get your soul back and we manage to get one problem solved at least," Seeing Bobby was about to cut in Dean held a hand up in a gesture of silence before continuing, "And if it makes you feel any better, me and Cas, all knowing, all powerful, all mighty Castiel, Angel of the freaking Lord will stop at your place while I heal and at least until you return, please Bobby, do we have an agreement on this?" Dean asked, the tone in his voice quietly respectful of the man before him who was more of a father to him than John in so many smaller, more traditional ways.

Bobby opened his mouth to argue, but just like always he couldn't argue with Dean, not when he gave him a look as open and honest as the one he had on now. He knew he didn't mean to look so vulnerable, Dean would hate it if he knew such a look was on his face, a look that said, "Please, don't fight me on this… I don't know if I've the energy to fight you too". And it was with that that all the fight inside him left his body, slowly draining out of him as he uttered, "Ok… idjit."

Snapping his head up from what he had expected to be a long barrage of reasons why he had to stay Dean could only ungraciously say, "Are you serious, or just jerking my chain about?"

"Why on earth would I be doing a thing like that boy? Did your brains get scrambled in here too?" Bobby asked, his voice taking on a high pitch towards the end of his sentence before he told the room at large, "I'm going to go find one of these idjit doctors, see if I can get you an early discharge from here, you know how hospitals make me feel. You two try and not get into any more trouble for yourselves while I'm gone ok?" He asked sarcastically before making his exit.

Breathing a big sigh when Bobby left the room, Dean turned to face Cas and noticed how the angel was already watching him closely, a look of intent on his face. Figures, he thought to himself, the angel always seemed to be looking at him at one time or another. It should make him uneasy, other people usually felt that way when they fell under the angel's watchful gaze, but Dean never did, for him, it always felt just… comfortable. Finally tired of the lack of conversation Dean tried to keep his tone light while genuinely asking, "Something I can help you with there?"

Castiel looked startled, and drawing himself back a little in the chair replied rather tersely, "I was assessing your condition. The doctors I spoke with were positive you would have to remain in hospital for at least another week, maybe longer, to be certain that there is no lasting long term damage, and I believe that since they are the experts, it might be prudent to listen to them."

"It's too dangerous for me to stay here Cas, I'd heal a lot faster back home at Bobby's, not to sound ungrateful or anything though, but why didn't you heal me yourself when we got here anyway?" Dean asked, simple curiosity on his features at the obvious answer to his current predicament. Healing him had never been a problem for the angel before, so what was going on now? Had something happened while he had been out?

Quickly choosing to shield the truth from Dean, Castiel placed the blankest expression on his features before replying, "It was decided that the safest option would be to let your body heal itself naturally after the healing failed the last time. I didn't want there to be a chance of your body going into shock again, and when I rang Bobby he agreed with the decision."

It was just when Dean was about to inquire into why Cas' powers failed in the first place that Bobby appeared with a bag in his hands and a pair of crutches, "Get dressed Princess, I managed to convince them you were fit to go home with us, they weren't happy about it though." Tossing him the bag of clothes and leaning the crutches against the chair Bobby turned to leave before he heard Dean call,

"What are the crutches for Bobby? Neither of my legs are broken."

"No but apparently you've a badly swollen ankle, they wanted you to put as little pressure on it as possible, and I figure its best to just go along with it for now don't you?" Bobby replied, and from his tone Dean looked at him, really looked at him, and took notice for the first time since he stepped in the hospital room. Bobby looked tired. Really tired. But more than anything he looked old, frail almost, and the feelings they welled up in Dean were best left untouched, he was emotional enough without beginning a care and share with the older hunter on top of all that too. So putting on his best smile he replied quickly with a "Sure thing" before turning to his other friend in the room who was still sat patiently in the visitor's chair.

Clearing his throat and looking pointedly at him, Dean asked, "Can I get a little privacy in here please?" and waited a moment until he saw the realization dawn his friends face as he disappeared out the room leaving nothing more but the sound of flying wings in his wake to hint that he'd ever been present at all. Chuckling to himself lightly Dean slowly got up and dressed himself, assessing and listing each of his injuries as he went on.

Later that day the three of them arrived back at Bobby's house. At some point when Dean had been knocked out in hospital Bobby had very kindly brought Dean's baby back to the scrap yard for safe keeping, and since agreeing with Dean had arranged the first flight out he could take to England. He would have preferred to stay longer, make sure Dean really was ok and coping, but Rufus needed him there quickly and Bobby figured if there were any problems the angel would come to collect him. The sooner he left the quicker he would return after all.

Later that night he left his house in charge of the man he very happily called son in his subconscious and made his way to the airport. Trouble may follow the Winchester's around like an old friend but what trouble could Dean manage to get himself into now, especially with an Angel of the Lord as a roommate? Bobby didn't know but he was willing to bet high stakes on it that if it was possible, Dean would manage it. He only hoped that by the time he returned his house would still be standing in one piece.

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><p><strong>AN's: Nobody reviewed last chapter so I'm hoping it was ok for you all? **

**As to the Gabriel/Sam situation I think I'll write a chapter just on them for the next one and see how you guys like it, you can let me know in either a PM or review. **

**Due to college life I probably wont be able to update again this week, and I want to spend a bit of extra time writing those two anyway, so I hope you'll enjoy this update for now, the next update will probably arrive this time next week now. Thanks for reading and if you review thank you for that too.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Any and all mistakes are my own, this is unbeta'd so any errors I apologize for.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, I'm only borrowing the characters for a bit for my own amusement, love to know what you think, and the title is only 'cause I couldn't think of one, therefore its subject to change sometime in the future.  
><strong>

**Warnings: References to torture, M/M pairing, possible future mpreg.**

**Note: I'd like to thank the two people who last reviewed, Drink War and smartcookie913 for taking the time to review my story, and I hope you and those who put this on your alerts all enjoy this chapter!**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Four - Oh my... is that really...?<span>**

When Sam woke it wasn't to the pain of torture, the infuriated shrieks of two of Heaven's most influential Archangels or even to the smell of burnt, or rotting flesh. Instead it was to feel a plump mattress underneath his body and the distant smell of melted chocolate permeating the room. That in itself set him on edge. Tensing his body, he relied on his other senses for a moment to help himself learn more about his surroundings before allowing whoever was holding him here to know he was awake.

Trying to keep his eyes still under their lids, he could feel the sunlight falling across his body - on his left arm and part of his face as it was quite warm, and straining his ears for any noises possible he could just hear the faint mutterings of two people, and heard a name. Something that sounded like it began with an M? He couldn't tell the rest, only that he knew that it sounded angry, before hearing a harsh whisper sounding from a female voice, something about trust, and then a male was speaking, something about being a ward? It was safe to say that Sam was more than confused at this point.

Deciding it would either be a case of fight or flight, Sam slowly opened his eyes and was looking up at deep red drapes. Glancing around the room quickly, he was surprised to find himself in not a bedroom, that word was too modern for this place. He was in what could only be described as a chamber, down to the candles in the holders and the stone flooring, it was like somebody had dropped him in some kind of medieval movie. Had he travelled through time when he'd fallen into the pit?

Feeling an uncomfortable itchiness all over his body, Sam gasped when he looked at his attire. Loosely fitting clothes made from scratchy, dirty material covered his frame, making him feel even more out of place than he had thought would be possible. Yep, Sam thought, definitely starring in some sort of medieval based costume drama by the looks of it. An image of The Tudors sprang to mind from one of the late nights he channel hopped in a motel with Dean and he barely avoided the need to fake vomit at the thought of looking like an extra from that factually incorrect show. f Dean saw him now he'd never hear the end of it. That's when it hit him. Where's Dean?

When he'd last seen him he'd been sat bloody and broken at the side of the Impala, due to Sam's own handiwork, or Lucifer's, but it was still Sam's body so the guilt would be his to bare regardless. Was Dean somewhere here too? Wherever here was, Sam still didn't know, what he did know though was that he didn't want to dally around in this luxurious room any longer, he had to find Dean, and if Dean wasn't here then he had to find a way out of this place and get back to him. Deciding on that course of action Sam lightly padded to the door and bent forwards a little - the door-frame was too short for his stature, and looking both ways through the long airy corridor, made his escape into the building which he was seriously starting to suspect was some sort of Castle.

Walking at a brisk pace and avoiding eye contact with the outwardly curious denizens, Sam tried to curl in on himself, noticing how someone more than a foot taller than anybody else would draw more than a little unwanted attention here. He was close to getting out into the open and free space of this... building when he heard someone shout, "You there!" and turned around to see several guards with actual swords running in his direction. Sam was pretty sure any break for it now would only guarantee that the one with the crossbow on his back would shoot him, so he stood there and tried to look as innocent as he possibly could, all the while a niggling thought started in the back of his head. The emblem on the guards uniform, it reminded him of something, he was sure he recognised it from somewhere, but where?

When the leader of the guard came close to him, he was asked, "Who are you and what are your intentions for being here?" Sam didn't know what to say, the voice was obviously British, and it would be hard enough to explain why he was here without suspicion, let alone his accent on top of all that so he remained quiet.

"Are you simple boy?" A member of the older guard asked, appearing angry at Sam's continued silence if the tightened grip on the sword at his waist was any sign.

"No, he's my servant and therefore he's certainly not simple! He just knows to remain quiet when his master isn't present!" A voice exclaimed, a voice that Sam knew well even though the owner of it was known to be dead. Moving slightly to look around the barrage of men in front of him, and sure enough, Sam could see Gabriel, that Gabriel striding forwards until he was standing before him, large as life and twice as unpleasant while he smirked in Sam's direction.

"Isn't that right Sasquatch?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow up in his direction.

"Yes" Sam gritted out between his teeth.

"Yes what?" He pushed; smile getting wider at the red blush, whether from anger or embarrassment he didn't know, creeped up the visible part of Sam's collarbones, to his neck and then resting in his face.

"Yes master" Sam bit out, angry at being forced to say this, but knowing that it was the safest option, after all with no weapons in front of him and no idea where he was he was hardly in the best position to defend himself against six armed knights and make a run for it.

"I'm sorry sir!" The guard, who had spoken to him first earlier said before he bowed, actually bowed to Gabriel!

"It is quite alright Leon, you weren't to know" Gabriel replied to the curly haired man, in a regal tone that couldn't help but make Sam scoff at the ridiculousness of it.

The guards soon dispersed after that, off to do whatever it was that they did around this place, so far Sam hadn't really seen much of a reason why their employer kept them around. Waiting until they were relatively alone, Sam turned on Gabriel, invaded the Archangels personal space and questioned in what he hoped was a threatening manner, "Where the hell am I Gabriel? What's going on and what have you done with Dean?"

Placing a flat palm on the chest of the young man in front of him, Gabriel kept his playful manner in place, but the hard tone in his voice was unmistakable, "Might want to step back a little bit Sammy, before I do something to you that I won't be able to fix."

And with that Sam took the warning and moved backwards. It wasn't long before Gabriel was smirking with a look that easily read, 'I'm in charge here, don't you forget it' before walking in front of Sam at a brisk pace and calling back to him, "Follow me Samuel!"

Left with no other options than to follow the annoying being in front of him, Sam slinked along behind him, all the while collecting data and strategizing a way out of this mess.

They entered a wide room and before long people started spilling in before a quiet hum of chattering descended upon the whole area. It didn't take long for Gabriel to get bored of this though and turning around to Sam asked,

"Do you know where we are yet? If not, I can always give you a few hints?" Looking slightly impatient, if the fact he was rocking backwards and forwards on his heels was anything to go by.

Sam just gave him a look that told him the very idea he would have gathered that by now and still be here was ridiculous, and to carry on with it.

Sighing, Gabriel took a lolly pop from... somewhere, before explaining, "Over there, that beautiful young woman you see?" Nodding in the general direction Sam grunted his ascent before he continued, "She's part of a love triangle at the moment, between her current fiancé and his supposed best friend."

Sam whipped his head back round to the young woman, his first thoughts of her had been how young and pure and just innocent she looked. In some ways she reminded him of Jess. He could barely believe it but Gabriel was barrelling on regardless.

"And her with the lovely dark curls and pale skin, she's not as lovely as she'd seem, she'd destroy any and everything in here given the chance," Pausing slightly Sam turned to see a look of regret on Gabriel's features before he muttered quietly, whether to Sam or just to himself he didn't know, "Its a shame really, she had such a good heart when she was younger, so kind, so _loyal_." Bringing his face up and putting on a smile that just slightly didn't fit his face he continued, "You cannot fight your destiny though!" Before turning and pointing to the man directly across from them,

"You see him wearing the crown up front? Destined to be killed young that one, but not before bringing the lands together again, after all he is the once and future King." At this sentence Sam snapped his head, the dots finally joined together.

"_Camelot?_ Gabriel, are you telling me were in Camelot?" Sam's eyes were wide at this thought, all his boyish wonders at the forefront of his mind. It was out of his mouth before he realised it, "Where's Merlin?" He questioned in childlike glee.

Looking Sam up and down with a questioning look, Gabriel replied rather coyly, "What makes you think you haven't already seen and communicated with Merlin before? What makes you think you're not already talking quiet animatedly with him?" Quirking his eyebrow at the confusion then reality flashing across Sam's features, Gabriel couldn't keep the smirk from his face at the confused disbelief that finally settled there.

With a voice filled with absolute horror, Sam replied, "You can't be serious, you can't be Merlin!" Before he paused for a couple moments and continued, "Actually it's a possibility, no wonder Arthur dies young according to you" He finished before a complete quietness fell in what he now knew was the court.

A young looking man, maybe Sam's age or a little younger than that walked in, followed closely by a man with dark hair and blue eyes which couldn't help but remind Sam of Castiel's and he knew. Whispering in the angels ear beside him he stated, "That's Merlin there with the dark hair and the blue eyes isn't it, the man going up to Arthur?"

The angel just nodded his head thoughtfully; mind obviously elsewhere when he heard a hiss, "I want you to take me to Dean now. Thanks for the little history session and all, but I've had enough."

Looking into Sam's eyes, Gabriel felt the slightest twinge of guilt at keeping the two Winchesters apart before explaining, "I can't do that Sammy boy, sorry about that but it'd ruin the game!"

"What game? Just take me to Dean!" Sam exclaimed to the disapproving mutterings of several people nearby.

Gabriel had had enough of this, and clicking his fingers transported Sam and himself into what Sam could only classify as Gabriel's lair before the angel was pushed into the younger Winchesters personal space and growling, "I've tried being nice Sam, I really did, but you're just not going to quit asking are you?" Withdrawing slightly, he continued in a more collected manner, "Don't ask any more questions Sam, or I'll be forced to keep that lovely little mouth of yours silent."

With that he moved into the middle of the room with his back to Sam before throwing over his shoulder, "If you try and escape here you won't like the consequences, and not just to yourself but to Dean too." He finished before looking into eyes that burned with hatred for him. With that, he disappeared in a flurry of wings, leaving Sam to look around his surroundings.

Sam wasn't stupid, he knew that the Archangel could be dangerous, but he also knew he had to find Dean. However it was that brief warning that dissuaded him from attempting to escape as soon as Gabriel left. If he tried, what would happen to Dean then? Sam in that moment decided that for the time being he would play along, play pet for this angel, but that he would persevere all the while for the first chance at escape to appear to him. Walking towards the only door in the room, Sam pressed his palm - the same one that had been on the Archangels chest just moments, but also centuries ago on the wood of the door and felt a warmness there, something which almost hummed into his skin... Pulling his hand abruptly back, he surveyed the room at large once more. With the thought of 'Know thy enemy' running in his mind, Sam moved into the room, determined to take it apart piece by piece for any value information he could gain to use to his advantage later on in this game with the Archangel.

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><p><strong>AN's: Sorry this chapter is so bad everyone, but I've been ill *waves antibiotics around feebly* and I didn't have as much time to edit this as I'd have liked, so that's why its so cringingly bad.I hope you liked this little dollop of Sabriel anyways, and if you'd like I'll add a chapter of these two in every other chapter before their incorporated into the main plot? Let me know in a review please! **

**Next chapter is back to Dean/Castiel and you'll see what they've been getting up to. If you could leave a review I'd really appreciate it. Until next time! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Any and all mistakes are my own, this is unbeta'd so any errors I apologize for.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, I'm only borrowing the characters for a bit for my own amusement, love to know what you think, and the title is only 'cause I couldn't think of one, therefore its subject to change sometime in the future.  
><strong>

**Warnings: References to torture, M/M pairing, possible future mpreg.**

**Note: I'd like to thank pappy for taking the time to review the last chapter, and I hope you and those who put this on your alerts all enjoy this chapter!**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Five - Listening<span>**

Dean woke up a few times in the morning after Bobby had left feeling worse than he had the day before when he had awoken ungracefully with the tubes stuck down his throat, and that was saying something. His whole body ached, and he was always either too hot or too cold, never a happy medium. The cold he could deal with, the heat on the other hand, not quite so much. Not when he was ill, not when it reminded him of other things, other places, other memories. Memories of a time he'd rather forget. His time in hell.

He knew he shouldn't have stayed out in the salvage yard after saying goodbye to Bobby, hell even Castiel warned him about the chill in the air. If Sam had been here he would have been insufferable right now. Chuckling mirthlessly, '_thank god for small mercies_', Dean thought, without any real conviction in it.

"The weatherman says it's going to rain soon Dean, you really should come inside." Cas spoke uneasily, looking at Dean with sadly regretful puppy eyes, like he was still kicking himself about being unable to make everything that had happened over the past couple of days, hell years even, better. They may have averted the apocalypse, but Castiel knew that without Sam, Dean could never be completely happy.

"Well screw the weatherman Cas! When did he ever get it right anyway?" Dean replied, clutching the bottle of beer in his hands closer to his body morosely while leaning back against the front of the scrap car he was sat atop of.

Speaking in a quiet, grieved tone, almost whispering to himself he continued, "I just want to stay out here a little longer, get some time to myself." Leaning back up again and looking at his friend, they locked eyes for an unknown amount of time before Dean coughed and broke eye contact before continuing, "I don't need you flying around me like some nagging housewife Cas. Why don't you go back inside, or go take care of some angel business or something? I'll be back in the house in a while." Dean finished to placate his friend. When he looked back towards where his angel had been standing Dean sighed. The space was empty, his friend had listened to him, and he was now gone, leaving Dean alone, like he had wanted.

What was meant to only be a half hour or so turned into a couple hours, the silence of the junkyard only broken by a small chuckle that escaped Dean while he conceded that Cas was indeed right, it was now raining and not lightly either, the rain coming down in thick, icy drops against his sore skin, the feeling of it almost soothing. The chuckle was almost immediately cut off again though when he realized. It wasn't long before Dean was soaked through, the rain heading straight down into his very bones, chilling him there, yet still he sat on that car, staring out in front of him, for while his body might have been present, his mind was anything but.

Sunrise started to break before Dean lifted his weary body from the hood of the scrap car and entered the eery quietness of the house. Looking through the kitchen and then through the study Dean couldn't see Cas anywhere in sight. It made him feel something akin to regret that he hadn't remained in the house, that he mustn't have felt comfortable staying here. It was sad seeing the house so empty, so quiet. Almost all the memories Dean could remember of this place contained noise of some sort - Bobby's snoring in the early hours of the early morning, Sam's light breathing next to him back when they had shared a room as kids, a leaky tap, a creaky stair or floorboard. For a house so always full of noise and character, to have it be silent was wrong somehow, in a way Dean almost couldn't explain with words, it was just one of them things that didn't need explaining. Working his way towards the stairs, and careful to avoid the crutches the hospital had forced upon him and that he had yet to use, Dean descended the steps, careful of the ones with the creaks in them and went into his room. Pulling his wet t-shirt over his head, he tried untying his laces but in his current physical state he deigned it to be more trouble than it was worth and gave up the challenge, willingly collapsing into his bed and hoping - but not quite praying, that he would quickly be taken by a hopefully dreamless slumber.

-SPN-

With a flutter of wings Castiel entered the home of Bobby Singer once more after vacating the premises for a small amount of time to try and contact his brother, with no luck on the matter. He quickly noticed the differences in the air and spotted the half full bottle of beer on the table, and that brought a small smile to his face. His charge, his friend had taken his advice and had come inside before the weather had gotten too bad if the temperature of the beer was anything to go by. He could tell it was the same one he had been clutching earlier.

With nothing else to do as angels didn't need sleep, Castiel perused the books in Bobby's study for anything useful as the man had after all said to make use of his resources in any way that they could. Coming across a rare first edition of the Enoch he went to sit down and read until Dean came downstairs later that morning when his eyes were drawn heavenward towards the ceiling of Dean's room by a low moan. The book forgotten he flew into the room in a matter of seconds and looked upon Dean's figure with a frown. Dean was writhing around on the bed and it only took Castiel a matter of moments to deduce what was wrong with his charge. By his sweating figure and the change in temperature which he determined by merely placing two fingers upon Dean's forehead, Castiel surmised that Dean had ignored his warnings about the weather, stayed out in the rain for an unknown period of time and contracted a fever. Shaking his head at the sight, Castiel went about making his friend more comfortable at least and sat at the end of the bed and took Dean's foot into his lap and started untying his laces and removing his boots for him.

"You're always looking after others with no thought to your own health or welfare, you need to start putting yourself first for a change, then situations like this," Castiel pulled Dean's boot off and dropped it to the floor with a resounding thud, "Wouldn't happen." He muttered, half to himself, half to the unaware figure next to him.

Dean had slowly come into consciousness during Castiel's talking, and opening one eye a little, then the other, and then shutting them both again before opening his eyes a certain amount that didn't make his head ache. He watched his angel through half lidded eyes as he continued to take his other boot off and then closed his eyes again, taken in by the waves of sleep which begged his body to let it rest some more.

Happy with his job, Castiel looked over Dean's body and felt a knot tighten in his stomach at the sight. Unsure of what emotion he was feeling he put it to anxiety - a feeling he vaguely remembered experiencing once during his fall while he debated with himself over what to do next now that Dean's boots were removed. From the little amount of knowledge he had garnered in Heaven when he used to watch his Father's creations and the information gained from his time with Dean, Sam and Bobby, Castiel decided that the next course of action would be to strip the remaining wet clothes off from Dean's body, wrap him up warmly and check his temperature periodically for signs of his fever breaking.

Standing beside Dean's now slightly shivering form Castiel felt a frown rising on his features. He doubted Dean would appreciate his efforts at trying to help him, and that made him unsure of his actions. However when a particularly violent chill shook through his friend, his mind was made up. Castiel wouldn't have to do this if Dean had only listened to him to begin with about the warnings the weatherman had broadcasted. So kneeling on the other side of the bed, Castiel slowly unbuckled Dean's belt, careful to avoid the bruises that marred his skin and then pulled the damp material slowly down his hips, knees, and pulled the wet denim off from around his ankles while removing his socks at the same time. Folding the damp material neatly, he got up to place it on the bedside table. Now that Dean was stripped to just a pair of boxers Castiel grabbed the blanket and covered him carefully, pulling the fabric up as far as it would reach, up under Dean's chin. Content that he would be ok for a little while Castiel quickly fluttered into Bobby's living room and looked about for the item of his hunt and found it quickly - Sam's laptop.

Sam had once shown Castiel how to use the internet, and explained to him that it was basically a big web of information, and that you could find information about almost anything on it. With this in mind he powered the machine up like he remembered Sam showing him and was taken to a starter page that had a picture on the front of it, the thing Sam had called the "desktop". It was a picture of Sam and Dean, taken back from the time before Castiel was involved in the Winchester's lives, before he had saved the righteous man above him from hell. Many things gave this away, but it was only the one thing that Castiel noticed that had told him that. It wasn't the fact that Sam's hair was a lot shorter than its current length, hanging about around his face and in his eyes slightly, or the fact that both of the brothers faces were more well-rounded with youth and less marred by time, or even the small timestamp that you could just make out if you looked hard enough in the right hand corner. No, the thing that told Castiel that this picture was from the time before Dean was dragged into hell was his eyes. Those beautiful green eyes. Gone was the guilt and self-hatred that was present in them now all too often, instead he could see the happiness, the playful twinkling in them, and the love. The love was still in them eyes even now, his love for Sam, Bobby, but it was different now, undeserving almost. Seeing this picture made him feel many conflicting things, but the predominant emotion he could make out was one of sadness. He didn't understand how Sam could bare to have it here, reminding him of a time before, a time they would never have again. To Castiel it seemed almost cruel, a form of utmost torture, to be reminded of something they would never have again almost continuously, day in, day out.

Closing his mind off from these thoughts, Castiel went back to the situation at hand, and opening what was called the "search engine" he typed in a simple question and opened the first page it displayed, which told him how to treat fevers effectively. Sighing and closing down the machine again, Castiel thought to himself about how far he had fallen now, but in a very different manner to that of before, back when the rules of the game were plain for everyone to see. No, this time was different. He had the power to help Dean, he could go into that room right now, heal him of his fever and of all his injuries and then this worrying would be over, but if he did that, what if it was at a greater sacrifice later? What if he used one of the very few precious amounts of grace he had now and wasted it on something which could naturally fix itself, and only realized this at a time when he was truly in need of it and had no more of his grace left to use? Castiel could do many things, but risk something like that was not one of them, so gathering the supplies from Bobby's kitchen he quickly made his way back beside his charge on the bed again, cold washcloth and a glass of water in hand, ready to sit this one out beside him until his fever broke, and then they could consolidate a plan of action against Gabriel and his lunacy.

-SPN-

Dean woke up a few more times that morning, and over the space of that day, while each time he was conscious he was always aware of that warm, comforting presence beside him, or somewhere else in the room, but always there. Sometimes he would feel cool, elegant fingers brushing his bangs from his forehead as he placed something cool and damp on it. Other times he would have an arm circling his back and lifting him slightly until he was in a sitting position, the back of his head gently being held while also being urged to drink the almost icy cold water, being told by that deep, gruff voice that he needed the fluids and it would help him feel better. And other times he would wake and open his eyes slightly, just to see his friend sat beside him peacefully, watching him, and Dean couldn't help it, coughing slightly, he managed to croak out,

"Thanks Cas, for everything. For staying here and helping me, thank you."

Castiel was shocked by this admission, and could only answer with a small, "Where else would I go?" He was unsure if Dean even heard him, but he heard the thank you coming from the righteous man, and that's all that mattered to him at this moment.

It wasn't until later that evening that the fever broke, and with it came a very annoyed Dean Winchester,

"Geeze Cas! Could at least ask a guy before undressing him! I feel violated now, next time just leave me in my damn clothes!" He bit out to hide his embarrassment at his scantily clad form which he only became aware of when he jumped from the bed to grab something to eat from Bobby's kitchen - only to jump right back in again and pull the covers around him after feeling the cold air hit bare skin.

Throughout the little rant of Dean's all Castiel did was tilt his head to the side slightly, confused about the irrational thoughts Dean was displaying to him now. Didn't he just thank him a couple of hours ago for helping him, and now he wanted him to leave him be the next time something like this occurred? Castiel could only reply with the first thing that came to his mind,

"But... you weren't complaining when I undressed you at the time Dean." Castiel stated, not quite sure how to process the conflicting information that Dean had told him when the internet had said what he had done was the right thing.

Dean felt a red blush run its way up his face as he spluttered about "boundaries" and "lack of personal space" to nobody in particular. Spying his jeans on the bedside table he quickly grabbed them and yanked them up over his thighs and hips, ignoring the stinging sensation it sent over his body to be doing so. Telling Castiel that he was going downstairs to grab some food Dean quickly vacated the area, leaving a confused angel in his wake wondering if he administered the wrong health care by mistake and that was why his charge became unhappy upon waking up fully. But instead of dwelling on it all he did was say to himself,

"Maybe he'll listen to me now about the weatherman next time." But even as the words left his lips he doubted it. Dean Winchester was a force unto himself, no matter what, he would do whatever it was he wanted, and damn any consequences that arose from it. The thought would have made Castiel smile if he wasn't already fully aware of how dangerous this could in fact be.

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><p><strong>AN's: Sorry this chapter was late, I've been having personal issues at home, but I hope the next chapter will make up for it, as it is somewhere in the region of 6000 words. You don't necessarily have to read this chapter to understand the plot of the story, but when I started writing this chapter this was just born and I didn't have the heart not to include it, so I hope you guys like it. **

**Reviews would be very much loved at the moment, so if you could take the time to leave me one I would be very greatful. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will stick around for the next one too!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Any and all mistakes are my own, this is unbeta'd so any errors I apologize for.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, I'm only borrowing the characters for a bit for my own amusement, love to know what you think, and the title is only 'cause I couldn't think of one, therefore its subject to change sometime in the future.  
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**Warnings: References to torture, M/M pairing, possible future mpreg.**

**Note: I'd like to thank EsScaper and Winchester Mpreg Gospel for reviewing the last chapter, I was feeling a little down about this fic and then your reviews came along and it picked me right up again, I hope you both enjoy this!**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Six - Plan of Action<span>  
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Letting the tepid water wipe away the grit from his eyes, Dean leaned his head backwards even more as the boiler kicked in and the water notched up to a soothing heat, beating against his Adam's apple and making him moan out slightly at the sensation of the water over his sore muscles. Bringing his head forwards and washing his hair with the bottle of shampoo that always seemed to be there at Bobby's ever since he was just a little kid, Dean frowned slightly as he thought back to what Cas said in the hospital... about Sam being in Gabriel's care.

Dean just couldn't figure this out, he wanted their help, that much was obvious, but with what? And why hold Sam over him like this? Everyone - whether they were Supernatural or even other hunters knew that the brothers weakness was each other, but they also knew that they worked better together, were more affective as a team. That's what didn't make sense to Dean, so surely knowing this and keeping it in mind wouldn't it have been more beneficial for Gabriel to keep him and Sam together?

But Dean knew that if there was anyone who could help him get Sam back, it was Cas, and that was where Gabriel made his big mistake by allowing him to stay here with Dean. Hell, it'd only been a couple days and he'd already had his back, first in the hospital, then earlier when he'd had that fever, and he knew that Cas would have his back while he tried to find Sam too. If Dean were to ever believe in such a chick thing as guardian angels, then he'd believe that Castiel was his, he really, truly would.

Grabbing the bar of soap he had, Dean started running it over his body, the smooth skin of his arms, the muscles of his stomach, all the while planning for the long term future, no matter how bitter that left him feeling. If, and damn him for thinking it, they couldn't get Sam back sooner rather than later and had to play along with Gabriel's game, he would need to plan for every eventuality. That meant hooking up Cas with more fake ID's for a start, maybe another suit or two, and actually teach the angel how to act like a professional... yeah, 'cause that was going to be oh so easy. He still remembered trying to teach Cas about football on the rare occasion he was watching it and the angel had just so happened to drop by, and oh hadn't that been a barrel of laughs! Dean shook his head at the memory and the ridiculousness of it now in the face of current things,

_"I do not understand why it is a widely appreciated past-time to watch a group of fully grown men chase around a sphere shaped ball on a pitch" Castiel stated, tilting his head at the screen before continuing, "I do not see the widespread appeal." He finished in an annoyed tone. _

_"It brings people together Cas, a bit of competition is good for the soul!" Seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere with the angel, Dean then turned the TV off and asked him, "So, what're you here for this time?"_

That was a couple of months ago now, back when the apocalypse was still raging, and they still had Sam with them. Things had changed since then, they were through fighting one Archangel, ended up getting a two for one deal when they put the troublemaker back in the cage and now it seemed they'd be working for another Archangel and doing all his dirty work just because he happened to have the upper hand this time. Yep, Dean really didn't like it.

Turning off the shower and grabbing his towel from the side, Dean wrapped it tightly around himself before walking over to the mirror and wiping a hand across the heat misted glass there. Grabbing his tooth brush and tooth paste, he vigorously brushed at his teeth while still being deep in thought about the situation in hand. Spitting out and rinsing his mouth clean Dean was making his way back to his room to get changed when an idea suddenly struck him and he spoke aloud,

"I wonder if Cas already knows how." In a sincerely curious tone of voice. He took another step forward before walking straight into a wall... a wall of warm flesh and clothing, because he'd just walked into _Cas._ Backing up as quickly and as much as the small hallway would allow Dean gave himself a couple of seconds to recollect himself and check the towel was secure around his waist before facing the person in question and asking,

"What the hell man? Bit of warning next time before you poof right into my path thanks." He said slightly ruffled, clutching the towel at the side of his hip. He knew it was silly to get so worked up about being so undressed in front of the angel, but he couldn't help it for some reason unknown even to him.

Frowning slightly and looking the man up and down in front of him Castiel spoke in that deep manner connected with him whenever he was attempting to assure Dean or speak sense into the man before him, "You're uncomfortable. I'm sorry Dean, I could feel you concentrating on me and when I heard you say my name I was worried and decided to check on you, I will be careful not to "poof into your path" next time" He finished, quoting with his fingers what Dean had said moments earlier.

Dean coughed slightly before muttering, "Yeah you'd better work on that" before grasping Castiel on his shoulder, giving him a small smile to show that the situation was finished and moving to walk past him when,

"But there was something you were thinking of within regards to me? You wonder if I already know how to do something, how to do what Dean?" Castiel asked him, plain curiosity there for all to see in his eyes.

Turning back round towards his friend Dean figured now was as good of a time as any to bring up what he'd been wondering and explained, "Well I don't know how long Sam's going to be out of commission for, and there's no way were flying everywhere, whether it be via angel express or otherwise. So that leaves us getting about in the Impala, which is better than fine. Problem is though, much as I'd love to I can't drive 24/7, and you know speed is of the essence with this line of work so... you see where I'm going with this yet?" He questioned, however Castiel still looked blank, like he hadn't fully grasped the situation yet.

"Look basically I was wondering if you already knew how to drive alright! And if you don't I could always teach you, if you want?" Dean was mumbling now and he knew it, but the idea of him, Dean Winchester, teaching Castiel, Angel of the Lord anything, let alone how to drive was utterly ridiculous to him, so with a light punch to the shoulder he turned back to his room and yelled over his shoulder, "Just let me know if you're interested ok!" Before he shut the door with a resounding bang behind him, in essence blocking the embarrassing conversation from thought.

Castiel just stood there in the hall looking at the recently shut door and a small smile came onto his face. He could sense Dean's unease and embarrassment emanating from him throughout when he was speaking, especially as time moved on without Castiel replying in any type of motion, but inside he was actually very pleased. He himself had wondered when Dean would bring this matter up, and after all, he'd always been interested in cultivating more human experiences the longer he remained on Earth. When he had been falling, driving was a matter he had taken a mild interest in. Yes, it was true. Castiel, the Angel of Thursday, wanted to know how to drive.

-SPN-

Drying his body off and getting changed into some clean clothes - an old pair of jeans that were badly frayed at the knees and an old Led Zeppelin t-shirt he kept meaning to throw out but was strangely attached to, Dean quickly ran his fingers through his short hair before deigning himself decent to go join the angel downstairs.

Bounding down the last few steps, Dean was about to ask Cas if he wanted to go eat out since his search of Bobby's kitchen earlier hadn't garnered any results when his mouth slammed shut mid-sentence at the scene before him and its obvious importance.

Cas was stood leaning against Bobby's desk, chanting in a language unfamiliar to Dean, therefore he figured it to most likely be Enochian. That wasn't what had grabbed his attention and held it so tightly though, no, what had held his attention were Castiel's wings. They were out and gleaming. But in that same moment, and if Dean had blinked he would have missed it, they retracted quickly and effortlessly into themselves, tucked away until nothing was there but the blank space of open air once more.

Castiel was stood stock still, head directly above the basin containing a multitude of items, and even from this angle Dean could tell his eyes were closed in deep concentration. The papers that had been stacked so neatly earlier, well, as neatly as it got for Bobby were littering the wooden floor and some were even whipped onto the walls and covering the windows, and even now more continued to fly across the ground and ceiling as Cas' chanting increased to an intense pitch before... nothing.

Still watching Cas, he was shocked at the low, deep growl which he released and that seemed to have emanated out of the man, causing it to almost thrum through Dean's very blood. His eyes traveled over Castiel's body, watching those long, elegant fingers run through his dark shock of hair, messing it up before turning to those plump lips and then... his eyes were met with a vivid blue, and everything that he had been thinking was forgotten in one moment and all he could think was to ask,

"I'm guessing that was some sort of angelic mojo filled ritual, at least, that much was obvious. What you were trying to do it for wasn't though, fancy filling me in while I grab myself a coffee?" Dean asked politely while turning to his right to pad into the kitchen and heading for the coffee pot. He could hear Castiel close behind him as he filled up two mugs.

"I was trying to use an old summoning ritual to bring forth Gabriel's presence, however it was very powerful and therefore also very draining for me, the chances of it working were limited but I felt that we had to tap every resource and plan for every eventuality. If it had worked I had the holy oil 'on speed dial', as you might say." Castiel explained, all the while watching Dean as he prepared the coffee.

Turning around with a mug in hand, Dean pushed it forward and pressed it into Castiel's empty ones before explaining, "I don't know about you but coffee always helps me when I'm drained, so to speak. Figure it's worth a shot for you as well. However if it's like the alcohol you might need to consume a full boatload before feeling any effects." Dean explained, snickering at the memory of the full liquor store Castiel drank down before turning back around to grab his own coffee and moving past Castiel, lightly brushing him as he went and squeezing his shoulder supportively too before sitting down into a chair around the dining table.

Breathing onto his coffee to cool it a little before taking a sip, Dean's eyes studied Castiel as he looked into the mug he had been given, took a sip himself and grimaced. Chuckling to himself Dean offered, "There's some milk or cream in the fridge and sugar in the top left cupboard since you obviously don't like it black." Smirking, Dean continued to watch as Castiel made the right reparations to his drink before he too sat down across from him on the table, placing the mug on top of it before asking Dean in all seriousness,

"You want to ask me about the ritual. I think you gathered by the lack of an appearance that it was unsuccessful. Therefore we need to plan and strategize our next move." Castiel bit out, before placing the mug of coffee to his lips and observing Dean over the rim.

"Short of angel proofing the house and finding out all we can about Gabriel's local haunts I'm coming up short here Cas. I hate to say it but were between a rock and a hard place right now. I think we might have to go along with his plan, at least until we discover what said plan actually _is _anyway."

"In that case, considering my method of contacting him didn't work, it might be more appropriate for you to try and call on Gabriel next. Sam is your brother, he might be more inclined to listen to your call than mine." Castiel mused, the thoughtful expression Dean was able to see hidden behind the blank look that he had come to know so well and decipher clearly displayed to him.

"Yeah Sam's my brother, and Gabriel's yours, yet he didn't answer you? I doubt he'll appear just because I call him, it would be more than a bit of a douchy call too if he does, but I'll give it a go." Standing up and draining the last of his coffee so that he felt the burn of it as it made the way down his gullet Dean continued, "No time like the present now is there?" Continuing on his journey, walking towards the back door of Bobby's house and out into the scrap yard he's known so well since childhood, all the while he could have sworn he heard something that sounded suspiciously like, "You're a lot harder to ignore Dean, at least you were for me" muttered by the angel behind him. But that couldn't be right now, could it?

-SPN-

Coughing and pushing away thoughts of how stupid he felt about the fact that to anyone passing he appeared to be shouting out to thin air, Dean turned back towards the house to see Castiel immerging from the door and instantly felt a calmness settle over himself and knew he had to give this a shot for Sam if not for anything else,

"Gabriel, you goddamn son of a bitch get your feathery ass down here pronto, you hear me? And if you've done anything to Sammy I swear to God himself that I'll kill you, and there'll be _NO _coming back from it this time once I'm through with you! Come on and show yourself Gabriel, I've got all day to do this, and _I know_ you can hear me!" Dean yelled, knowing it was a weak threat before turning to the latest scrap heap Bobby had collected and issuing it with a couple of vicious kicks before...

"Cassie my dear, you really ought to keep that oaf under control before he breaks something or just all around _breaks._" Gabriel let out in a jovial manner, while Dean turned towards where his voice was coming from and... Blinked, blinked again, and still the image before him wasn't disappearing, much to his ire, disappointment and all around confusion.

Gabriel was there for all to see and had indeed responded to Dean's call, but his appearance was not something either Castiel or Dean were expecting. The Archangel was currently lounging on the roof of an old SUV Bobby had collected.

Dean couldn't help himself, he had to ask, "Dude, are you seriously dressed up as... Aladdin?" Turning his head to search out Castiel's eyes, he could only see the angel blinking owlishly at the sight himself, still not sure if he was seeing the truth either and not quite handling the situation any better than Dean himself was.

"Oh Dean! You always did have a knack for stating the obvious!" Gabriel admonished, before biting into a candy bar he'd produced from a pocket Dean hadn't otherwise noticed.

Gabriel was indeed dressed as Aladdin, baggy pants, bared chest with a see through purple wrap on top that hid _nothing_ from the eye and a fez and all, he even had a carpet underneath the SUV he was lying on top of!

"I really don't think I want to ask this, but why on earth are you dressed as Aladdin again?" Dean knew this wasn't the issue at hand but he just had to know, the bizarreness of the situation still not lost on him.

"Well Dean-o, the answer to that is quite simple, I didn't want to be Jasmine now did I?" Gabriel answered looking as innocent as he could manage before turning towards Castiel and holding a hand up to his mouth as if to block Dean out from hearing what he said next even though it was perfectly clear, "As for Sam, I think he makes a beautiful looking Princess, even though he didn't appreciate it when I left him that way." He finished, looking victorious at some memory or another.

Dean was positively frothing at the mouth when he heard this, and his reaction could be seen by the two angels even before Dean himself attempted it, so with a click of his fingers Gabriel paralysed the older Winchester to the spot before talking to him as a parent may address a child, "Sam is fine Dean, I've done nothing to hurt him and in fact I'd even go as far as to say he's enjoying himself a little. Now, why did you summon me here again? As you might have gathered I was otherwise engaged." He finished, running hands up and down himself to demonstrate this fact.

Finding that the upper part of his body was now his own to control, Dean locked away the angry part of himself long enough to bite out, "You're the one with the great plan for me jackass. I want to know what you want, no games, so that the sooner I know the sooner I can get Sam back." Once he finished he shut his mouth, locking his jaw tightly at the attempt to remain civil to this... entity in front of him.

"Well, well, well, look at you trying to get involved with the grown-ups work. Brother it's good to see you've some influence over his manners, that was quite an improvement for him, he was almost civil to me!" Gabriel exclaimed, faked shocked in his tone.

Looking over to Castiel, Dean noticed that he seemed detached from the scene at hand and only hoped he was thinking up a good strategy to use against the Archangel later, meanwhile said Archangel was explaining himself to the pair in front of him,

"I need you and Castiel to take care of a little problem for me that goes by the name of Crowley. Jumped up demon thinks he can take over hell? Fair enough, neither I or Dad has any interest in that world, he can have the pit, I hear its become almost civilized under his influence anyway. No that's not the problem, the problem is the whispers on the street which say he's formed an alliance with someone powerful, someone powerful whose after control of everything, heaven, hell, earth, the lot. And I've no idea who they are." Gabriel hissed the last part out through clenched teeth, as if the words physically pained him to admit them.

"If that is the case then," Castiel started before clearing his throat and more confidently addressing his older brother, "If that is the case, why do you not ask our father for the identity of the other half of this partnership with Crowley and then handle the matter yourself?" He asked patiently, wondering what answer his brother would give him.

Running his fingers through the hair at the back of his head, Gabriel answered in a hushed tone, "I don't actually talk to dad ok? Any information he wants me to have he hands me through Joshua, and I've tried pressing him for Dad's location but the old angel won't divulge a drop."

"So wait, what you're telling me is that you're just as in the dark as us, yet you just expect me and Cas to handle the problem for you, with no worries and probably with no questions asked or answers gained, even though you're the one with more contacts at your disposal and the higher power to get this done?" Dean broke in, angry that the angel before him could dump something of this magnitude on them and also expect them to fix it seemingly without a hitch.

Gabriel was losing his patience with the older Winchester, "Look this may surprise you Ken doll but I've got a lot on my plate right now, and you wanted to know what you could do to get your precious Sammy back well here's the start of it. Find Crowley, get him to reveal who he's working with, or not, as the case may be. Either way, I need you and Castiel to take care of it. You understand don't you little brother, and the consequences of your actions if you do otherwise?" Gabriel asked of the only remaining quiet one of their party, the warning only fully understood between the two angels in the group.

"I understand the pressure you're under, me and Dean will do our best to extract the information you require." Castiel answered tersely.

"Thanks bro, knew I could count on you." Gabriel replied with a small, honest, precious smile on his lips and disappeared before Dean could argue the point anymore.

Once the Archangel was gone for several moments Dean realized that he had control of all of his limbs once more and used said control to turned to his friend and asked exasperatedly,

"Thanks for the support there Cas! How on earth are we meant to get Crowley anyway and what did he mean about these "consequences of your actions" anyway?" He questioned, but seeing that the angel appeared to not be in the sharing mood, he simply decided to just walk past him and back into the house and hope they could come up with some plan, or any type of plan even that could get them out of this new mess that they were in.

-SPN-

Castiel sighed, working with Dean Winchester was never easy, but a Dean Winchester on edge? Now, that ought to yield some interesting results.

The better part of the afternoon for Dean and Castiel was spend discussing their plans for Crowley and what they could do to make him give up his new partner and their plans together. They both knew that anything they thought up and tried on the slippery demon would be a long shot, however as it was Dean hoped that Bobby may have some information when he rang him later. He wasn't sure of the time difference over in England, but what he did know was that if he rang Bobby up in the middle of the night over there he would not be amused. Jet lag's a bitch at the best of times, Dean knew from his albeit very limited experience, and a man of Bobby's age? Grumpy was his usual setting so if he rang him up while he was asleep _and_ suffering the after effects from jet lag? It could only make it worse and would most likely result in him complaining down the phone to Dean for a good while before getting any information on Crowley, that is, if he even had any information on Crowley yet. Dean surmised he couldn't have been in England that long yet either, and he had Rufus to bail out first before even starting on that. So yes, it was safe to say that Dean was delaying that phone call, for the time being at least anyway.

Castiel was sat across the table from Dean in the kitchen still, despite the fact they had both moved since then. Dean began to pace across the bit of space that bridged between the kitchen and Bobby's study so Castiel moved to stand in the doorway, watching him, the righteous man, as he tried to think of a way to fix this situation. Castiel didn't have the heart to tell him that one step with Gabriel would mean nothing, that he could tell by the way his brother appeared so under pressure that this would be the first in a long line of "favours" before they even had a chance to get Sam back. It wasn't that Gabriel was a bad angel, Castiel understood that no, that wasn't it. The reason he was doing this, as far as Castiel could discern was that without the leverage of Sam to hold over Dean, he either didn't think they would help him or that he had no right to ask them to do so in the first place. The way he'd done it, as some sort of game was more agreeable to the former Trickster than just asking for their help outright, and that would probably be his downfall mused Castiel.

Both angel and man were pulled out of their separate reveries by a loud gurgling noise. It took a couple of seconds before they worked out that the place the noise originated from was Dean's stomach. Patting it, Dean smiled easily at his companion and said,

"Seems liked dinnertime, don't you think? And don't give me that crap about angels not needing to eat anything, half of it's for pleasure anyway!" Dean exclaimed, daring the angel to argue the matter with him by quirking his right eyebrow at him.

"You're indeed right about one thing, I do not need sustenance, but just this one time cannot hurt, I suppose." Castiel allowed, looking back to his friend and seeing the relief there that he had simply agreed with him for a change.

"I'll go see what's in." Dean said to the room as a whole before looking throughout the cupboards and grunting. "Nothing's in, hey Cas fancy a little ride with me in the Impala? We need groceries." He finished evenly.

Truth was Dean didn't want to be in the Impala on his own, not without Sam. At least with Castiel there he could pretend, for a little time anyway, that all was fine and that when he arrived back at Bobby's with the groceries he'd have not only his surrogate father, but his baby brother waiting there for him too ready to curse him for taking so long and throwing him a bitchface for buying the wrong brand of lettuce or something respectively.

Dean turned around to say to Castiel that it was fine for him to say no if he wanted, that he didn't have to go just because Dean was going when he felt the brush of two fingertips against his forehead and knew what had happened. Opening his eyes again as he'd closed them upon feeling the slight weight of Castiel's fingers on his skin, Dean was not fully surprised to find himself in the cereal aisle next to a very pleased looking Castiel. Staring at his friend until he noticed a slight shrug of his shoulders, his simple explanation was that of,

"It was more efficient."

"Yeah but Cas..." Dean tried to think of a way to explain to the angel that people don't just suddenly go _poof_ and appear out of nowhere, the dangers of doing that, but all he managed was wide arm gestures before, "Next time, at least zap us into somewhere more private like the Gents or something, you know, somewhere where it won't be overly obvious to other people that we've appeared from thin air! Good thing this isle is empty." Dean finished, looking around himself to try and distract away from the fact of how the other part of his sentence could have been viewed from an outsider. Not that it would be weird for two guys to leave the toilets together or anything, not at all. Placing his head back in the game he noticed that he could hear nothing but quiet. Seemed like almost the entire supermarket was empty. That was good for them, at least. Unless something more sinister was brewing, but Dean was trying to be positive, and with an angel on his side it was easier than usual.

"I'm not an idiot Dean, I checked that nobody was present before bringing us here, I am aware that it would be an unusual display for two men to appear apparently out of nowhere." Castiel explained a little defensively. He may not know the ways of humans perfectly, but he wasn't fully new to the land his father had made. He'd been walking it for two years already, and for a short time before then too, before Dean's birth, or the birth of his parents or even their great-grandparents time in fact.

It didn't take long for Dean to fill a basket with the basic supplies they would need, milk, bread, cheese, cereal, you name it, Dean placed it in the shopping trolley, all the while Cas looked at the items with intrigue filling his features.

"He's not wearing the correct uniform to be Captain of any of the services I've heard of." Castiel said, holding a box of Cap'n Crunch close to his face as he examined the white bearded cartoon on its cover.

Dean chuckled lightly to himself before bypassing him to pick up a box of Lucky Charms, something which never failed to remind him of the childhood he and Sam had had, if you could even call it that that is, "Put them in the trolley if you want to try them Cas, apart from hamburgers there's not a whole lot else that I know for sure you'll eat. Damn I hope your vessel isn't allergic to pie, we've got to get you some of that to try!" Dean replied to his friend good naturedly while a brunette passed him, giving him the once over, or so he thought before he saw her grimace as she walked through the isle, not looking back at him once.

"Did you see that? I mean what the hell man! I've had a lot of attention from the ladies in my time, usually a nice smile, or a wink, but never a grimace! What's wrong with me man?" Dean questioned, before feeling the tell-tale sore spots and knowing that would have to be it. For a moment there he'd almost forgotten about the past couple of days, he'd almost felt normal. That's what shocked Dean more than anything, he thought. That he could feel like that while Sammy was stuck doing god knows what with that dick Archangel.

"Dean," Cas started kindly, "You have a lot of bruises, and it's a shock for anyone to see but they've already faded significantly in the past few days since you received them. There's nothing wrong with you, there never was anything wrong with you before, and there isn't now, just because a woman couldn't see past your wounds doesn't mean that you should feel unjustified dismay over it." He finished, brushing his hand against Dean's arm before drawing back quickly, realizing he'd invaded Dean's personal space once more that day.

Dean felt a warmth swell in his chest at his friends words... and immediately shut it down. Drawing back from him a little he replied good naturedly, "Thanks for that Cas but remember, no chick flick moments ok? I'm going to go grab myself some Hunter's Helper." He finished, making his way towards the isle where the whiskey was before groaning at the choice of music the supermarket was playing, Madonna's 'Like a Virgin', as it was apparently eighties pop night according to the presenter on the channel. Why they couldn't just play some good old Metallica on these channels was beyond Dean, that much was for sure!

Paying for the groceries with a fresh credit card that Dean had only managed to 'acquire' recently, he motioned for Cas to join him with the shopping basket, and made his way to a darkened corner of the car park, hidden from sight at the side of the building and away from the security cameras littering the place, he picked up several bags before nodding slightly in his friends direction to let him know he was ready for the angels form of travel. Placing two fingers to Dean's forehead once more, it was only a matter of moments before they were outside Bobby Singer's modest home once again.

-SPN-

Nothing was right here.

They could both sense it the moment their feet touched the gravel beneath them. The smell was wrong, the air was cloggy. Sulphur lingered on the slight breeze that went past the pair.

Demons had been here, looking for them. On high alert now Dean and Castiel were ready for the oncoming battle they knew would start in moments once they realized that they had returned, for they knew they wouldn't have left because they couldn't have, wouldn't have been physically able to, not without what they wanted. Orders were orders after all.

That was when a familiar growl made its way out the beast behind Dean. Hellhounds, he thought to himself. Yes, now major shit was about to go down. That much they could both be certain about Dean thought before turning to face the invisible monster behind him that had plagued his dreams so often since Hell.

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><p><strong>AN's: I hope you guys liked this chapter, it just wouldn't end when I was writing it that much is for sure! As for the next chapter, its giving me a little bit of trouble... I know where I want to go with it, its just getting there that would seem to be the problem. Therefore I hope you guys really enjoyed this chapter and if you could leave me a review to spur me on it would be extremely appreciated, so in that case, until next time!  
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	7. Chapter 7

**Any and all mistakes are my own, this is unbeta'd so any errors I apologize for.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, I'm only borrowing the characters for a bit for my own amusement, love to know what you think, and the title is only 'cause I couldn't think of one, therefore its subject to change sometime in the future.  
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**Warnings: References to torture, M/M pairing, possible future mpreg.**

**Note: I'd like to thank Carmichaelcarr for reviewing the last chapter, I was feeling a little down about this fic and then your review dropped in my inbox and reminded me part of why I publish this story. As to the other reviewers:**

**pappy: Nope Dean is as he is in the show, why would you think he's a girl in this? **

**Anonymous: Why don't you try actually reading this fic first before passing judgement? Then maybe you'd notice there's no hints as to who is going to be the pregnant party, since they haven't even kissed yet let alone done anything else. If this isn't your type of thing - why click on it? And yes I'm a Jensen fan - But I'm also equally a Misha and Jared fan. Don't try to pass sweeping judgements on fics, its fairly pointless. But on the other hand if you have CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, then go ahead and review, otherwise save us both the bother. I'd discuss this more but I want the others who enjoy this to actually get reading, if you want to talk on this more, feel free to message me.  
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><p><strong><span>Chapter Seven - Realisation<span>  
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Lunging past Dean and placing his arms out wide to protect him, Castiel made a grab for the angel blade that usually resided in the pocket inside of his trenchcoat, spun around expertly and stabbed the hellhound, injuring it severely before Dean even had the time to process half of what had just happened before his eyes.

"Dean" Castiel hissed, before getting a lack of an answer, causing him to hiss again even more vehemently and shaking him slightly, "Dean!" This seemed to snap the charge out of whatever trance he had been in.

"We need to move." Dean bit out, looking for strategies to give them the upper hand in this battle, the hunter in his mind taking over before he realised, "I need weapons Cas, I need to get the Impala, it's in Bobby's garage. If you make a distraction or something, I'll go get them and gear up, take out as many as I can on the way back." Dean finished, making a move towards the garage before Castiel grabbed his arm and forcefully moved him under better cover.

"You can't Dean, it's too dangerous! You can't see hellhounds and we don't know how many were outnumbered-" Castiel got out before he was spoken over.

"Yeah but it's our best shot! Look I don't like this anymore than you do but it's the best plan we've got right now. You're a soldier Cas, you know this is our best shot as well as I do!" Dean bit out, looking around and hoping that no demons had seen them yet, the element of surprise was the only advantage they could count on in such a tenuous situation like that they were in now.

Castiel didn't like it. He didn't like it and he didn't agree with it, but even he had to admit that this was the best plan open to them right now. If he had been able to access the entirety of his angelic abilities he might have possibly felt almost comfortable with this plan, as he knew he would have been able to neutralize the problem before Dean ever got back from the garage. The problem was that he knew he couldn't use them, not unless the situation was dire enough to call for it, but of course he couldn't tell Dean that. So nodding his acquiescence to the plan he moved from behind the shell of the Prius they were hiding behind, ready to tackle this latest battle head on, and hoping that they could get out of it as relatively unscathed as was possible for a Winchester battle.

Dean noticed the exact moment that the angel agreed with him. It was something in his eyes, steeliness seemed to seep over the blue, making them appear to have a hard glint to them, and reminding him of the angel that had threatened to throw him back into the pit back in what seemed like so long ago. He hardly saw signs of that angel anymore, the one that was purely soldier, except in times of battle, like this. When Castiel moved from behind the Prius ready to face whatever was out there head on, Dean began darting between the scrap cars on his way to the garage, while all the time listening out for anything that could be out there ready to catch him unawares, whether it be a demon or a hellhound. Along the way he prayed to Gabriel to get his feathery ass down here pronto and help them, as it was probably to do with him that they were in this mess in the first place, but whether or not he was heard by him he didn't know. Making one last sprint, Dean reached the doors of the garage, where he quickly slipped inside and rushed to the boot of his baby for his weapons which could mean the difference between winning this battle, or losing it.

-SPN-

Castiel was worried about Dean. He knew he shouldn't be, that he knew as any soldier knows you need to have your attention focused completely on your target as distractions can be the failure of you, but he couldn't help it. Dean was his responsibility, and right now he wasn't working as he usually would, he was still stiff from his wounds, getting over his fever, either one of these things could mean death for a normal hunter, but both of them? That's when Castiel decided to have faith in his brother, and his father. Dean Winchester was very far from ordinary, and he was on the side of the angels. With Heaven backing him, Castiel knew that their best chance of winning this would be for them to both remain focused. And with that, he charged into the fray, ready to sneak up upon the first demon he had in his sights, and take them out one by one.

-SPN-

Dean moved into the heart of the garage with a swiftness born from years on the road having to make a quick getaway with his Dad and Sam. Swerving around the side of the Impala to get to the boot, he opened it hurriedly and looked about the cluttered mess, while a calm detached voice in the back of his mind mused, "_I'll have to clean this out sometime, Dad always did hate a mess_" just as he went to reach for the holy water and his favorite shotgun. However upon hearing the creak of the door which was as loud as a gunshot in the silent garage, Dean's whole body stiffened. He knew that this wasn't Castiel, he could feel the difference, and that only left him with one other option. A demon.

Turning around quickly and tightening both of his hands into fists - one to conceal the miniature flask of holy water he was almost crushing in his palm, the other to stop his hand from shaking, Dean attempted a nonchalant air when he replied to said intruder, "You could've at least knocked first before entering, you know, there are these things called manners," While looking the demon up and down, contempt clear in his eyes he finished, "But then again, this is you I'm talking about here Meg. Whole demon thing aside I don't think you'd know good manners even if they came up and bit you on the ass." He finished, hoping to goad the demon closer to him, and then he'd have her.

"Oh, Dean, Dean, Dean. I know you've missed me really," She replied easily, however the look in her eyes told him that goading her might not have been the best plan that he'd ever had, as even he had to admit that the demon looked angry enough already as she started to sidestep around him in the garage, and therefore also around the demon trap drawn slightly ahead of him on the ceiling. Dean inwardly cursed, but he still had his back-up plan he reminded himself mentally, hoping it would be enough.

"But still, not as much as I know you _must _have missed our teacher." She spat out vehemently, before stopping to stand still in the garage that suddenly felt to Dean as if it had dropped a couple of degrees. He also felt the colour drain slightly from his face at the mention of Alastair. Quickly covering the almost imperceptible slip in his armour, Dean placed the walls back up and tried to keep up his false jovial tone from earlier as Meg edged closer to him,

"Yeah well, all things come to an end, even demons as strong as Alastair it would seem. Sam went and took care of that, just like I'll take care of you, have fun in hell bitch!" He finished, throwing the holy water into the demons face before he started chanting,

"**Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus,** " He started, only to be interrupted, "You might-" She bit out before he continued, "**omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio**," The demon screamed in fury before once again trying to talk to the hunter, "Listen to me jackass otherwise-" Dean grabbed his favorite shotgun and placed it in the direction Meg was trying to move towards before shooting, "**infernalis adversarii, omnis legio**," He was just about to finish the last section of the exorcism when the words died in his mouth at the sentence the slippery demon now almost in front of him managed to complete, "He'll bring him back, our teacher dearest Dean, he's coming back and he'll just love to get reacquainted with you!" She finished, and stopped trying to come closer, seeing that her goading had worked in holding the hunter up short - for the time being at least anyway.

"And I think you and I both know the particular type of punishment he'll have in mind for you, don't we?" She goaded in Dean's general direction as she slithered around him in a circle like a cat stalking its prey. They had moved away from the Impala during some part of their exchange, "I'm sure you have the remember everything of what must just be lovely memories from Hell still, don't you Dean?"

"That's not possible!" Dean spluttered out, eyes on Meg's form but mind very much not present, instead lingering on moments he would rather forget from the pit. Mentally shaking himself, Dean forcefully pulled himself together once more before stating more confidently than he felt, "Alastair is gone. What Sam did to him there's no coming back from, not then, not now, not ever. You're just bluffing." He finished, voice sounding a lot more secure in this notion that his mind believed in reality.

"You really do think that, don't you Dean? Well let me tell you something then. Our new leader isn't just strong, he's also strong enough to bring a demon back from the dead, and he'll do it, just to get back at you even if he finds Alastair's talents... distasteful. Seems you've made yourself a powerful enemy there." She finished quirking her eyebrow at him with a playful expression painting her features, "It's only a matter of when now, not if." She finished.

And that's when Dean prepared himself to be ready to strike.

-SPN-

Castiel wasn't faring much better.

Having managed to disable several demons with his angel sword and an old Enochian exorcism so far, he currently found himself surrounded by a pack of hellhounds. Just as he was ready to strike, a voice he recognized immediately spoke to him,

"Well, well, well my pretties, look what we have here?" The charismatic voice of their owner called, and the demon that Dean and Castiel had been hoping to find and talk with, just preferably not in this situation continued, "If it isn't the Angel of Thursday. Really isn't your day now is it?" He quipped, looking amused with himself for saying this fact on a Wednesday.

"If you and the rest of the demons present do not vacate the property immediately, there are no assurances that any of you will exit here alive." Castiel spoke in a calm, collected manner attached to that of a well trained and experienced soldier of God.

"Yeah well, see the thing here is Cassie, I think you're _all talk_ and_ no action_," at this point he looked the angel up and down before continuing, "Scratch that, I _know_ you're all talk and no action. Having a little grace problem there are we angel?" He finished with a smug smile on his face for having sensed it.

Castiel didn't know what to say to that. The fact that the demon knew he was blocked from accessing his grace was disconcerting, but that also left him with the option of surprise if the necessity arose, since Crowley could sense the block placed on him by Gabriel, but not the fact that he was allowed to access a certain amount of grace, that left him at an advantage. Only a slight one, but an advantage all the same, something which could come in handy later and give him the slight advantage that could mean all or nothing. Life or death.

"Tell me angel, what's it feel like to be neutered like a dog? After all you are a certain someone's bitch now aren't you?" With that Crowley jerked his head in the direction of where Dean had gone to earlier, before continuing, "Wonder what the older Winchester thinks about his all-powerful angel being reduced to practically another defenseless human." With this last parting shot Castiel's eyes snapped to that of the demon, before he spoke clearly in the uncaring voice he had had when he'd first walked the earth,

"What Dean Winchester does or does not think is of little circumstance to me. I am not anybodies 'bitch' Crowley. Enough of these games, you're working with someone, who is it?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely, I'll give you a little hint. He's powerful, more powerful than you that's for sure. And he has a score to settle with both you and with your little friend over there. In fact I hear he has big plans for him. Plans to take that denim clad buffoon and eject him into the pit, so far and so deep that _nothing_ and most importantly _nobody_, not even you will be able to save him. I may have rearranged hell, but this guy? He's convinced me that it might be a good idea to have a little section cleared out for his little guest. He'll be supplying the friend to keep Dean-y boy company down there, in fact I believe you met him once down there before too, didn't you?"

Castiel could barely think, all he knew was that a foreign emotion had surged up inside him, one that said he had to find and protect Dean at all costs this minute, that he couldn't be parted from him, not for a moment, he couldn't allow him to be taken back down there by whoever Crowley was working for. He was just about to deal with the noxious demon before him when he felt it.

The air around him shifting minutely, something he wouldn't have noticed if he wasn't in his current angelic state of focus, and thanks to that he was able to swiftly dodge to the right and out of the way of the oncoming angel blade, double back behind his would be assassin, and stab him viciously through the chest cavity. However he wasn't prepared for the double attack. As he stabbed the first demon he felt a burning in his shoulder – the angel blade from the first demon had been savagely lodged between bone and muscle by another demon. Twisting against the pain, Castiel placed his palm and exorcised the demon from its host, killing the young body it had possessed as it took the blade down with it. Feeling slightly drained and less _full_, when he looked up from his kill he noticed that Crowley and his pack of hellhounds had disappeared. Quickly bending down, he took the angel blade from the slack grasp of the demon and placed it in the inside pocket of his trenchcoat. This would come in handy later, as it could help explain a few points that Castiel was still unclear upon. But that would have to wait. Right now, Castiel's top priority was Dean. He had to find him before anything could happen to him, before anyone could take him away. Castiel had to protect him at all costs, and if that cost meant using another section of his grace he would do it. He had to, he'd do anything to protect Dean, and with that thought, he swiftly made his way to the occupied garage.

-SPN-

Dean might not be the brightest candle in the shop, hell he was fine with admitting that between the two of them, Sam was the obvious brains of the outfit, but that's not to say that Dean himself was stupid. He most certainly wasn't, and that's part of the reason why he was still alive right now in this garage, despite the fact that he was still outnumbered five to one by demons and a couple of hellhounds who were wandering around the garage to boot by the sounds of it. No the reason he was still alive and kicking so to speak was because of his brains, well, that and the well packed arsenal inside his trunk. Credit where credit was due, Dean knew he owed his life to the weapons that traveled with him, and they had never served him so well as they had today, he had already managed to dispatch of three of the more obvious demons in the group when they had lunged for him, but now the remaining ones had him cornered and he was quickly running out of ammunition. Short of launching the guns themselves at the demons, and he was more than well aware of how little that would affect them, they would have him soon, and from what Meg said before, once they had him a reunion would be on the cards. One that Dean had never wanted to make once he'd been rescued from hell, and one that he hadn't expected he'd ever have to contemplate after Sammy had disposed of the demon that had slowly sucked away his spirit for thirty years, and the beginning of his humanity for the resulting ten after that.

But Dean wasn't thinking about any of that at this current moment. At the moment he was trying to contemplate the best route for escape from these foul demons. Obviously summoning Gabriel had been a wash out, and Castiel was who knew where busy dealing with what else was out there, and the only person he had to rely on was himself, but it seemed his luck had truly run out as the demons began discussing what to do with him between one another before heading back to report in on the day's work.

"We should have a little fun with him first, after all Alastair used to brag all the time about how he was the sweetest little slave that side of hell that he'd had in many a century. So then why can't we experience it a little for ourselves?" The demon who spoke leered towards Dean, he was dressed like the poster boy for a tax man. Dean inwardly shuddered. He would go down, and go down fighting to the end. He couldn't change what had happened to him back then but he certainly wouldn't be anybody's bitch here!

Swinging forwards blindly into the throng, Dean aimed the demon killing knife high before swiftly pulling his arm down and stabbing the first demon he could lay purchase on, who was in the body of a middle aged woman. Flinging the holy water into the face of the demon to his right, he was about to make a run for it when he felt an arm go around his neck, cutting his air supply through his windpipe short and quickly disabling his flailing limbs.

"Feisty one aren't you? Boy am I going to have fun with you!" The demon jeered before twisting the knife from Dean's fingers, spraining his wrist in the process. Grabbing the knife, he ran it slowly up and down Dean's body, causing it to tense up in anticipation before drawing a thin bloodied line down from just under his left nipple to just above his hip bone, causing Dean to hiss in slight pain and anger at the drawn out process.

Just as he was about to try the exorcism ritual once more, a blast of wind ripped through Bobby's garage, and someone he was all too glad to see appeared.

_Castiel!_

His mind sung, and before any of the demons in the room could react, the angel's body was inches from Dean's as he laid his hand on the demons wrist which was still clutching at Deans neck, therefore quickly dispelling and killing it.

Stepping back slightly and turning to the other demons in the room, Castiel spoke in the cold and ordered voice of a soldier once more, "Any other attacks on either me, Dean Winchester, or anyone affiliated with us will not be taken as lightly as this one," and within a blink of an eye Castiel quickly flew from demon to demon killing all but one with his angel sword, before turning to said only living demon in the room – Meg, "You can send that message back to whoever you're working for, the next time you attack, war _will _begin. And the next time I see you, believe me when I say that _I will kill you for your involvement in this_."

And with that Meg quickly escaped the garage. When Castiel was sure she had vacated the premises via a car he heard running outside the front of Bobby's home, he turned to Dean and gripped his shoulder to try and steady his friend who appeared very pale compared to his usual sunkissed complexion, which worried him greatly.

Looking the hunter in the eyes, he softly questioned him, "Dean?"

It was all he needed to say. In that one name he got across his wonder and concern for him, and that was what snapped Dean out of it, and shrugging Castiel's hold off from his shoulder, he turned his back on him, both physically and mentally before asking him,

"What the hell Cas? You keep doing that, but god I'm-"Dean stopped here, because he knew it was unfair to act like this to Castiel, but he was feeling so many conflicting emotions right now towards his friend. Gratitude, awe, happiness from being saved, anger at being the weak one once again, and it was the anger he went with, twisting it and using it for his own purposes to try and distance the angel from himself and his conflicting emotions.

Turning back around, he looked the angel dead in the eyes before continuing, "Look Cas, I'm not some princess who needs rescuing every time trouble comes to town. I've managed to take pretty good care of myself since I was four freaking years old. I don't need you coming in acting all macho bad ass motherfucker Angel of the Lord and warning demons from me like some sort of weak maiden ok? It's not like they'll listen, in fact you've probably just made things worse now and given them a reason to up the ante."

Storming past his friend Dean could feel the deep coils of guilt settling around his gut – and he steadfastly ignored it. After all, he was Dean Winchester, and ignoring things, pretending they didn't happen, is what Dean Winchester does best, even he was aware of that.

-SPN-

Castiel could not understand Dean's reactions. He couldn't understand his own actions, but when he'd seen that demon gripping Dean tightly to itself, he'd felt instant outrage, and another emotion his vessel told him… _jealousy?_ It supplied. But that did not make sense, why would he be jealous of a demon?

'_He was closer to Dean, physically, that you've ever been or ever will be. It may have been against his will, and it may be illogical, but you know that Dean would never be that close with you willingly either'_ something inside him spoke, but the very idea of it was preposterous and he dismissed it instantly. After all emotions were very difficult things to differentiate. Castiel was still unused to them after two years on earth, but he did know that this other emotion, whether it be jealousy or something else, wasn't the first time he'd felt it in regards to Dean. He'd felt it when he'd watched him kissing Anna too. But above all these emotions, the one that had outshone them all was the very need to protect his charge. Protect him, and keep him safe. That's why he'd charged in and killed the demon that had dared lay its hands upon him, dare draw his friend's blood, despite knowing he'd diminished his grace already. That that action would diminish his grace by a third in the very short events of one afternoon. He did this because he had to, and Castiel admitted to himself that if given the choice again, he'd still act exactly the same, knowing that it ensured Dean's safety. Dean was always protecting others; it was Castiel's job to protect him. It always had been, ever since he raised him from the pit.

Castiel didn't know quite how long he stood there in the garage before he slowly made his way towards Bobby's house. When he entered he remained in the doorway unsure of what to do until Dean acknowledged him. A half-naked Dean that was. For some reason this set the pulse of Castiel's body racing, perhaps his vessel was running a fever? But he had to dismiss this idea immediately as ridiculous. Angels don't contract illnesses.

Dean for his part was completely oblivious to the current watcher he had, as he was trying to wrap a bandage around his ribs, which had been subject to a few vicious punches and hits during his battle with the demons, and were therefore more than a little sore. If he had to bet money on it, he'd say at least one of his ribs were bruised. The issue was that with his wrist being out of commission now as well, he was having a little problem tying all the bandages together, causing him to be in the situation he was now, muttering curses under his breath before he heard a well timed cough behind him, causing his head snapped up and for his eyes to meet those of Castiel's.

Dean didn't know how long they spent staring at one another, but he was very aware of the blush that went up over his cheeks causing him to feel like some teenage schoolgirl, and of the arm with the damaged wrist coming up to try and cover his chest and preserve whatever modesty he still had, which considering this was the second time that he'd been shirtless before the angel in one day, wasn't much, Dean had to admit.

"Could I be of assistance Dean?" Castiel questioned, knowing that Dean would never ask him straight forwardly for his help.

Coughing and looking towards the ground, Dean muttered something about 'damn demons and their strength' before nodding affirmatively to the angel in front of him.

Walking towards his friend, Castiel very gently secured the bandages around Dean's narrow waist and muscled chest before tying them. Dean still wouldn't look at him. This caused Castiel to frown slightly. Surely he wasn't embarrassed?

"Sit." The angel ordered, and for once Dean did so without complaint, being pleasantly submissive under his care, Castiel observed. Sitting across from Dean, Castiel took the supplies from the well-stocked medical box Bobby kept under the kitchen sink and set to work on Dean's wrist, having viewed this procedure more times than he could count since becoming affiliated with the Winchester brothers, not to mention Team Free Will and the numerous injuries they sustained during that time. It was therefore due to this that Castiel was well versed in the correct method of attending to wounds such as sprains, broken bones and knife wounds. He'd had to learn a lot of things when he was falling after he'd rebelled, and dealing with injuries was just one in a long line of those things. However he was brought out of his musings just as he was tying the sprained wrist up by Dean's question of,

"Cas, whose is that?" And pointing with his good hand, Dean also looked pointedly at the other angel blade in Castiel's pocket.

Holding Dean's hand in his own, it took Castiel a moment to figure out Dean's meaning before he dropped the hunters hand from his to reach for the angel blade in his pocket – a loss he felt acutely. Reading the name there, he visibly paled before Dean, only half hearing the hunter calling his name and asking him what was wrong before he replied,

"It belongs to an old friend. I'll be back soon." And with that, Dean was left alone in Bobby's house, barely half an hour after the demon attack, with questions on the tip of his tongue and a burning desire to throttle a certain angel in a trenchcoat.

-SPN-

Having put the groceries that they'd abandoned during the midst of the fighting away and placed numerous devils traps and salt lines in and around Bobby's house, Dean finally lowered his pain abused body to the bed and soon fell into a sleep that was plagued by nightmarish images from the memories which he had thought suppressed during the last battle of Team Free Will against the devil, but the events of today had obviously gotten to him more than he had thought.

"_Nobody's coming to save you Dean," Alastair crooned over him, scalpel blood covered from the hours spent cutting into Dean's yielding flesh._

"_Well, it seems you're not quite enjoying the current fun were playing at there, want to try a different approach?" The demon asked, and that's when Dean felt it. The free hand of the demon sliding up his thigh, inching higher and higher, up to the waistband of the torn and bloodied jeans he still wore, causing him to-_

Dean woke up choking off a scream before the memory could progress too far. Yes, there were certain things that even Dean was thankful for, and for once he found himself silently saying thanks to whatever had woken him just in time before the dream could envelope him too far into a memory he'd tried so hard to bury. He hadn't been plagued by dreams quite as real or vivid as that since he'd returned from Hell. Shivering due to the cold sweat that now covered his body and the aftermath of the nightmare, Dean got up and went downstairs for a glass of water, expecting to be met with a silent and sombre nerd angel on the way, but Castiel still wasn't back yet from whatever mission he'd disappeared on. For some reason this made Dean wonder, '_maybe it's my fault Castiel isn't here, could it be something to do with what I said earlier?" _But he shook that thought off. Cas knew what Dean was like, and he wouldn't disappear just due to something Dean had said. And after patching him up earlier, Dean was pretty sure they were A-Okay now, or at least they were for the moment.

Taking the glass of water with him back up to bed, Dean laid down and let his mind wander, half hoping that he would get to sleep again, and half hoping that he wouldn't just in case his dreams were plagued once more. By the time he finally managed to sleep, his dreams were plagued, but this was by a completely different type of dream.

_Hot, warm breath on his neck as someone kissed him down neck and to the hollow of his throat, down even further, onto his collarbones, little open mouthed kisses before coming back and nipping at his chin, just grazing with their teeth, causing Dean's head to dip back even further, and then they were gone. Snapping his head back up, Dean grabbed onto the first thing he could see, and suddenly he was in a sea of blue as he pulled them closer to him once more, by their.. _blue tie? _Lips ghosted over his again before Dean opened his eyes fully, only to be met a forest of vivid green, and bright blue eyes, _familiar eyes.

This was the moment when Dean's body jerked awake in bed for the second time that night. In the few moments before all the details of his dream became a hazy thought in the back of his mind once more, Dean was only aware of a couple of things. One, he had a problem he needed to deal with down below, which caused him to groan to himself. Two, it was deadly silent, Castiel wasn't back yet... Castiel. An image of a blue tie and equally blue eyes came back into his mind, making his earlier problem disappear, because damn it Dean Winchester wasn't gay, but there was no mistaking the logic. Castiel's tie, his eyes … they are both _blue._

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><p><strong>AN's: I hope you guys liked this chapter, it certainly gave me a lot of problems that's for sure! I saw quite a few people added this story to their alerts/favourites last chapter, I'd really appreciate it if you guys could leave me a review, in fact it would make my day. **

**I've also a few questions for you all: **

**Would you guys like this to be an mpreg or not in time? **

**Does anyone here mind if we have some side Sabriel eventually? **

**Where would you guys like Gabriel to take Sam next, or would you prefer it if I surprise you?**

**Thank you all once again for reading, and please don't forget to review! Until next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Any and all mistakes are my own, this is unbeta'd so any errors I apologize for.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, I'm only borrowing the characters for a bit for my own amusement, love to know what you think, and the title is only 'cause I couldn't think of one, therefore its subject to change sometime in the future.  
><strong>

**Warnings: References to torture, M/M pairing, possible future mpreg.**

**Note: I'd like to thank Carmichaelcarr for reviewing the last chapter, out of over twenty people who are subscribed to this story, he is the only one to leave me a review, and not only that, but to leave me one twice. The support is truly appreciated. Reviews always let me know I'm doing the right thing, and make me happy as they show me people indeed enjoy this story. Anyway, on with the next chapter!**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Eight - Mirror, mirror...<span>  
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It was with the flurry of wings sounding behind him that Sam turned around to give the annoying his Archangel his best bitchface only to be met with empty space before him. Scowling to himself at the missed opportunity, Sam quickly turned back round to carry on with his chore to find Gabriel standing right before him, only just keeping to the boundaries of acceptable personal space. Sam could appreciate it a little more when Dean griped about Cas and his apparent personal space issues with him now. It seemed like an angel problem if Gabriel was anything to go by, he seemed to revel in making Sam uncomfortable with his proximity. Well Sam would show him. Staring down at the smaller man and trying to let his unhappiness bleed through into every pore of his expression, Sam couldn't believe the audacity of the angel when he just continued to grin up at him merrily and questioned,

"Oh Sasquatch, why on earth did change out of your other outfit? You just looked so… _appetizing _the way I left you. Truly the other outfit became you more!" The angel smirked, before moving into the middle of their shared living area.

Sam's worked up reply was almost instantaneous, "Don't call me that. And you know bloody well why I got changed! You dressed me as a belly dancer and placed me in a Turkish whore house Gabriel! With the lights low like that and all the booze that was flying around, half of the men thought I was a woman, and the other half didn't even care that I'm most certainly not female! What in that mind of yours thought that doing that to me _and just leaving me there_ would be a good idea?" Sam exclaimed exasperatedly. He'd had to slap more than a fair share of hands away before he'd mysteriously found himself back in his current location that Gabriel was keeping him in, sans Gabriel of course, but when he'd dropped onto his bed he could have sworn he'd heard the Trickster's phantom laughter still ringing in his ears. That was one memory that wasn't going to go away soon, and it was certainly one he wasn't going to share with Dean either. Ever.

"Oh come on Sam, you looked positively _delectable _like that though! Deep purple is a very good color on you, and I told you, no way was I going to be Jasmine in our little game of dress up, I haven't the figure for it like you do," The angel continued, offering a lascivious look to the younger Winchester brother before continuing, "But I'll make you a deal, I'll ask you before just doing certain things in future, that doesn't mean I'll listen mind but I will take it into consideration, if that's alright with you?" He finished, shooting a winning smile Sam's way, knowing this would now all be forgotten. Or at least for now it would anyway.

This went some way to help appease Sam's mind slightly, and Gabriel was just about to suggest some more fun times together, perhaps a visit to 1930's Chicago during the prohibition years, as Gabriel knew some pretty good speakeasies from back in the day or maybe somewhere a bit more modern when he felt something.

It was like a prickling of the skin and a slight cooling of his temperature before he heard the elder Winchester calling upon him to _get his feathery ass down there pronto_. He sounded pretty insistent, and need he add to it pissed, but Gabriel just shrugged it off as a normal Dean freak-out-episode. He'd drop in on the hot-headed Winchester and his masochistic little brother in a little while, since after all, the reason for his summoning probably wasn't anything of great importance anyway, he'd only been with them a few short hours earlier, and they could deal without him for one afternoon, right?

While he was thinking about this and arguing with the two sides of himself – the uncaring, fun-seeking, outgoing Trickster against the dutiful, obeying, power-wielding Archangel, he was soon brought out of the two sided debate by Sam, who unknowingly managed to drag him out of his internal struggle by practically whispering out as he moved to go to his room, "Doesn't help stop me missing Dean though does it?" Before continuing to walk off to his personal bedroom and safe haven away from Gabriel, where he could be alone with just his thoughts on how to get out of here, and of how Dean would be bearing up. The last time he'd seen Dean with his own two eyes he had been broken and bloodied and by Sam's own hands no less. If he could just see him now with his own eyes… have certain knowledge that he was ok… but that wasn't possible. Gabriel had more than assured him of that.

Gabriel was standing in the middle of the living area of the luxurious castle he was currently vacating with Sam – he changed their location every couple of days, maybe after a week at the most, not quite out of necessity, but because he could, because he was an Archangel, and because it made things interesting. However right now things weren't so much interesting as awkward. Gabriel wasn't going to stand for that, little did Sam know that one of the many improvements angels had was sensitive hearing, and Sam's muttered words had gotten to him, and since he wasn't going to stand for an unhappy moose as a roommate, that's how he found himself looming over Sam Winchester who at that moment was quietly laid face down on the bed and asked him,

"What exactly do you expect me to do about that Sam? What even can I do? You know the rules, so with that in mind tell me what can I do to make you feel better about Dean? I've told you he's fine, that he's in safe hands with Castiel. You know with Castiel there to look after him he's better off than you were when he went to hell and you were the one left alone up here. So what more do you want from me?" The Archangel questioned, honestly not seeing the problem for Sam. He'd promised him that Dean was fine, and Gabriel might be many things, but first and foremost he was, and always had been, an angel. Lies like that, about family of all things, just didn't become him.

Sam's mood went from bad to worse in the space of a few seconds, "Well I can see how you wouldn't understand." He hissed prissily before quickly gaining pace, "After all, you're still the same old Trickster who killed Dean in front of me over, and over, and _over,_ just to prove a goddamn point. And still the same scared angel who abandoned his family-" Before Sam could continue on with the scathing tirade that was building inside him, he was immediately quietened by the hold of Gabriel's hand on his throat and the dangerous glint in his furious hazel eyes.

It was a few moments before the Archangel managed to gain control of himself enough to speak.

"Don't forget that I went against my family Sam, my _brothers_. And what for again? For you, for Dean and for humanity that's what. And it got me killed. Don't ever forget that fact Sam. I know what it's like to miss your family, I deal with it every day, I've lost so many of my brothers in the process of Michael and Lucifer's spat, that you could almost say it's a part of me now." And with that he released the grip on Sam's throat and stepped back slightly, trying to get his angelic fury under control before he cut an even more threatening figure than he was at present.

A warning of Dean's sprang back to Sam's mind as he felt along his throat timidly with his fingertips, "_don't piss off the nerd angels_". Well he'd just pissed off a freaking Archangel of all things, and the fact that he actually felt _bad _about it too had Sam ducking his head in shame and whispering morosely, "I know that Gabriel. I remember what you did for me, for us. I'm sorry but it's just..." Sam's voice cracked for a moment, before he continued, "It's just that, if only I could actually _see _Dean with my own eyes, even if it was just for a minute to know that he was ok with my own two eyes then I…" Sam finished, unable to carry on with the sentence, head still hanging in front of him, almost touching his chest. He didn't see the angels look of remembrance cross his face before he exclaimed,

"Eureka! Wait here Sammy - I think I have an idea that'll fix all of our problems!" And with that and the once again familiar flurry of wings, Sam was left alone once more to his own thoughts and devices, feeling oddly annoyed by the angels lack of any type of explanation before disappearing again on him. This oddly enough reminded him of Castiel and all the times he'd done that to him and Dean. Trait must run in the family he guessed.

-SPN-

It was some time later in the day before the angel reappeared again, in the same spot as before above the gentle giant that was Sam Winchester, only this time the human was sound asleep. Gabriel frowned at that, should he wake him, or shouldn't he wake him? He continued to debate with himself for a few more minutes before leaning down over the young man, eye to eye with him, before the closed lids only a couple of inches below him sprang open, causing the two to jump back in shock.

"What the hell Gabe?" Sam panted as he tried to still his stuttering heart, which had his hand placed directly over it. Yep, it was beating a mile a minute there. Sam could finally could sympathize with Dean now when he told about Cas' lack of understanding about personal space now he had something to compare it with! This was the first and only time Gabriel had overstepped that mark though, maybe the angel wanted him for something important? Maybe he had information about Dean?

"Gabe?" The Archangel questioned slightly, inwardly pleased by the nickname flippantly called from Sam's lips but not completely sure why. Seems that the moose might be growing on him more than he'd thought.

"Gabriel." Sam corrected before continuing, "What do you want… and what the hell is that?" He said, pointing to an object that had to be one of the ugliest things he'd ever seen in the entirety of his life. And that was a difficult feat to achieve, considering all the things Sam had seen along the way on his 'extended road trip' with Dean, just thinking about that creepy painting with the murdering girl ghost inside of it made Sam's skin crawl. Yep, now it seemed it had competition.

"This, my dear moose, is magical; it's one of a kind, priceless, and most importantly, it'll show you whoever you want, whenever you want, whenever you ask it."

Sam quirked his eyebrow at this, "First you whisk me off to the middle ages to spy on Merlin, Arthur and his band of merry knights of the round table, later you get some sort of Aladdin themed fetish and dress me up like some kind of cheap consort, and now were doing Beauty and the Beast? I mean really Gabriel?" Sam mocked the angel easily, not believing his ears that such an ugly thing could do so much.

Gabriel bristled at that, he'd gone through a lot to get this mirror for Sam, greased many important wheels, did a fair amount of sneaking, all so the giant baby would stop whining about his brother every five minutes and this was all the thanks he got! "Well Sammy boy, if you don't want it…" He let the idea there linger before making motions to move from the room, mirror included in this, only to feel a large hand grip his wrist and a meek voice almost squeak out at him,

"No I do! I really do Gabriel! Thank you!" Before letting his grip fall loose from the Archangel's forearm.

Gabriel looked at Sam quizzically for a moment before speaking.

"Right," He paused slightly before continuing, handling the hand mirror like the precious, one of a kind artifact it was, "Want me to show you how to use this?" He asked, and seeing Sam nod his acquiescence he merrily called out to the mirror,

"Mirror mirror, in my hand, who is the prettiest in all the land?" After the Archangel had spoken these words in a strangely jovial manner, the mirror clouded over slightly before it clearing and showing a face that they both knew well.

Sam coughed slightly before daring to question it, "Did it really just show-"

"Yep," Gabriel quickly replied stunned, before continuing, "Hey Sam boy, let's not go there."

The awkward silence that resumed was quickly broken by the loud guffaws of the two men. Wiping the tears that had leaked from his eyes from his exuberant laughter, Sam turned to see Gabriel slapping his thighs still and quickly questioned, in all seriousness, "So all I have to do is ask it to show me Dean and I'll get to see him?" Sam asked, eyes hopeful, while his mind tried to not get too far ahead of himself in case this turned out to be just another trick of Gabriel's, another badly thought out joke of the Tricksters.

Gabriel's only answer to that was to pass the mirror over to Sam carefully.

Holding it in front of him and resting its back against the palm of his hand, Sam quickly gathered all his hopes and doubts before swallowing them down together along with his embarrassment before speaking out loud, "Show me Dean Winchester." As an afterthought, and ever the gentleman, he added a timid, "Errrm, please?" To the end of his sentence, causing a slight chuckle to leave the Archangel beside him.

The mirror began to mist over a couple of seconds after that request, like a bathroom mirror covered over due to steam from a hot shower. Slightly leaning over Sam, Gabriel ran his hand over the mirror, and then by the time it had cleared, both the human and the angels expression were matching ones of shock, before changing after a few moments and what they were watching sunk in. Gabriel's changed into a smug grin and Sam's into one of deep thought.

The first thing Sam noticed when the mirror cleared was how close his brother was to the angel standing directly in front of him, barely an inch of space between them. On a first glance it looked completely intimate. Then Sam noticed the little details. The fact that Castiel was helping Dean, bandaging around his chest with such care and gentleness, the type he'd seen in the glances he'd shoot Dean's way sometimes when he thought nobody was watching, or at least noticing. How Castiel's face had a look of concentration upon it, how Dean wouldn't even glance in the angels direction, and that Dean appeared slightly bloody and rough around the edges, kind of how he would look after a particularly tricky hunt. It was this that troubled Sam, causing him to drop the mirror on the bed with a dull _thud _before turning on the Archangel and advancing stealthily, only three words leaving his mouth, but three words which needed no elaboration,

"What the hell?" Sam spat, stopping directly in front of the smaller – but infinitely stronger body directly before him.

Gabriel for his part managed to keep his features impassive, but inside he was worrying a little… perhaps when Dean had called for him earlier it had been more of an emergency than he had anticipated? But on the other side of that, Gabriel mused that maybe his plan was going better than he had thought. Still, only time would tell, and he needed to seek council. There was only one place for that, so quickly placing two fingers on the giant before him and just lightly pressing down on his temple, he managed to knock him out cold. Gabriel made quick work of placing Sam down on the bed gently, and as an afterthought wrapped as much of the duvet as he could around the man before placing the mirror safely on the bedside table – after all, it wouldn't do to break a weapon of heaven now would it, before he was flying off into the garden of heaven itself and calling out to the only other angel privy to everything that was being placed in motion – as it was he definitely knew exactly if not more than Gabriel, so talking and deliberating with him could only help matters.

-SPN-

He didn't beat about the bush once his wings touched down on the holy plane; Gabriel quickly called through the gardens for the angel in question, "Joshua? Joshua are you here?" But no reply was forthcoming. That in itself was a troubling fact to Gabriel's heart and mind, as the elder angel was always here, tending away to his magnificent garden. It was his equivalent to what Dean's Impala was to him.

Gabriel was just about to do a sweep of heaven when he felt something or more to the point, _someone_ enter not only heaven but also the gardens with him, and it certainly wasn't Joshua.

Turning around to face the new presence, he called out in as cocky a voice as he could muster in the face of such unease welling inside of him,

"Well then little brother, what brings you here?" Inwardly though he was blanching, and it was starting to show on the outside of his vessel too, he could feel it.

His brother looked terrible, his hair was mussed from what Gabriel could only assume was shaking hands running their fingers through it, tie more askew than usual, and that disturbed aura about him bled through into his voice as he replied tightly in his usual gravel tones,

"A certain brother who isn't as dead as I was led to believe."

Gabriel cocked his head at that, wondering where Castiel was going with this. Which brother could he possibly mean? Gabriel was ruler of heaven while their father was away, he would know if an angel had gone stray, wouldn't he?

"Or you either it would seem." Castiel took an unneeded breath, held it in for several seconds before breathing it out and continuing, "Is there something you wish to explain to me Gabriel? Since you certainly haven't been telling me everything."

The silence in the gardens was palpable. The game was up; it was time to tell all…

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><p><strong>AN's: I hope this chapter was enjoyable for you guys, I figured you could do with another dose of Gabriel/Sam, and how it ends works into part of the next chapter nicely too, which is currently underway and halfway through, standing at around 1660 words and its not even finished or edited yet!**

**I hope I'm writing all the characters at least half decently, and keeping them at least semi-in character too, if not I do apologise, and can only ask for you to let me know, as then I can improve for future chapters you see. **

**Who do you guys reckon will realise their feelings for the other first in this, Dean or Castiel, and any particular reasons why you think that? It interests me to know what all you guys are thinking! :)  
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**The next chapter contains some strong Destiel moments. Its been quite enjoyable to write so far, therefore I hope you'll enjoy reading it just as much when the time comes next week.**

**Reviews would be more than appreciated, as they let me know I'm doing something right and heading in the right direction with this. Until next time then!  
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	9. Chapter 9

**Any and all mistakes are my own, this is unbeta'd so any errors I apologize for.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, I'm only borrowing the characters for a bit for my own amusement, love to know what you think, and the title is only 'cause I couldn't think of one, therefore its subject to change sometime in the future.  
><strong>

**Warnings: References to torture, M/M pairing, possible future mpreg.**

**Note: A very special thank you to silmarlfan1, Carmichaelcarr and CrimsonRose26 for leaving me such lovely, wonderful reviews! The fact I got such feedback on the last chapter made me immensely happy! **

**As always I hope you'll all enjoy this next chapter, but especially so to Carmichaelcarr, due to you also having your exams coming up soon and your event on Friday, good luck, and I hope that this helps take your mind off things for a little while at least!  
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><p><strong><span>Chapter Nine - Revelations<span>**

With the flutter of his wings, Castiel found himself in a field that was two and a half miles away from Dean. Close enough to be there in a second if he was needed while still not having to use up another precious piece of his grace in the process, but still also far enough away to give himself some time alone to think on the events of the day in peace and tranquility. Usually when Castiel liked to think or just muse over a day's particular events or prayers, he'd go to the heaven that he favored, that of the eternal Tuesday afternoon of an autistic man who drowned in a bathtub in 1953. As it was, heaven wasn't exactly against orders for him to visit per-say, but Castiel was unsure about how undertaking such a trip would affect him, especially now he was in a weakened state. It wasn't something he wanted to dwell on either. That wasn't why he'd come here to think.

Surveying the empty field that he had flown to, Castiel quietly sat down on a large cylinder shaped rock that he found before placing his head in his hands and morosely wondering how it had all gone so badly off script for him. Of course he knew the answer to that, but he didn't exactly wish to dwell on that matter either. It would seem he'd have to be careful about what he thought on; a lot of things were now 'off topic', as Dean would say. Lifting his head and gazing at the sky, Castiel thought back to the first time he'd officially met the righteous man, and how he'd stabbed him upon Castiel moving close enough for him to do so. It's was odd, but now even just that memory brought a smile to his face. Many memories did now, memories that included Dean that was. Castiel hadn't had emotions in the human sense of the word before then, so therefore his memories before that moment weren't exactly what one would term 'happy' or 'sad', they were just moments that he remembered, like details one might read upon a book. Interesting, but not necessarily anything that would spark any more emotion than that. Getting emotionally entangled with his charge seemed like one of them inevitable things to Castiel now, because who couldn't get emotionally involved with such a soul as Dean?

Sighing to himself at the unstoppable nature of it all, Castiel slowly removed the other angel blade from his pocket, and repeatedly began to read the name carved there in Enochian. He'd truly missed this brother, as much as an angel could feel loss that is, after he had lost him in the beginning of the great battle, the one to lay siege to hell, where many had fallen but Castiel had flourished. Balthazar had often favored him over other angels, and Castiel had thought him to be the closest equivalent of a friend that he would ever have. This was before Castiel spent time with Dean, before their bond had been properly established, and then eventually Balthazar became nothing more than a vague memory of a time past, nothing more than another brave angel who had fallen in battle.

This is what angered Castiel. The brother he remembered was forthright, honest and a true fighter. He knew that he was dead, he had been there in the battle beside him, and had seen him fall, his angel blade falling with him. But then that just raised the question now, what was going on? Castiel knew there was a lot more to this story, pieces of the puzzle he was missing, and he had a pretty good idea where to get them. However just as he was about to take flight and attempt to enter heaven something, or namely _someone_ stopped him – Dean.

It was like a pull at the edge of his consciousness, but since the beginning Castiel was attuned to this, now more than ever before it would seem since their bond had first been forged. Something was wrong with Dean, he wasn't sure what the feeling coming through their bond was exactly, but he did know that it was making Dean's breathing erratic, and that he had begun to move in sleep, something which the elder brother did not usually do when he was simply restless. Castiel frowned. He'd been so deep in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed when the change in Dean had begun. What else had he missed? With that question carried on the edge of his mind, Castiel immediately flew back to Bobby's and was greeted with a sight that… he wasn't expecting.

Castiel stood in the doorway quietly, pondering whether or not he should move towards the elder Winchester brother at a time which Castiel knew he'd want privacy. Cas could still remember the first time Dean had caught him sleeping, and he was loathe to repeat that now. He had learnt that it wasn't simply a matter of invasion of privacy, but it was also a matter of an invasion of trust too. Dean rarely trusted anyone, and due to this fact Castiel didn't want to give him another reason in a long line of many as to why he was right to protect himself this way. Castiel didn't want to lose the trust that Dean placed in him, but he couldn't leave him if he were having one of his recurring dreams of hell again, not when he knew from experience that just his presence beside him could help him sometimes. Cocking his head to the side slightly, the angel was confused. Dean didn't necessarily look distressed; in fact he looked oddly happy. In sleep, Castiel noticed how Dean's features smoothed out, the lines that were beginning to appear on his face around his eyes had disappeared, and he looked almost… peaceful. A look he hadn't had since he was four years old. Castiel still remembered what Dean had looked like back then; it was his first true contact with the righteous man, back when he was still nothing but an innocent child, the day after the Winchester family had lost Mary. A loved wife and an adored mother. He'd heard Dean's calls to bring her back, that if the angels were always watching out for him like his mommy had said, why couldn't they do this for him too? Castiel had always heard Dean, but back then what seemed so long ago, he still yet did not know of his significance in the grand scheme of heaven, hell, and his own existence. He was merely another voice in the throng of people who prayed to the Angel of Thursday.

But Castiel didn't dwell on these thoughts for more than a couple of seconds, as almost against his will one foot started to step in front of the other and before he knew it he found himself edging ever closer to the man laid out on the bed. He could feel his own pulse beating rapidly and all the more erratically the closer he got to the person on the bed, the person who was unequivocally the most important being in his existence. The person who always managed to surprise him, and who held a higher place in his affections now than even God himself, something which Castiel would have sworn to be impossible when he first met Dean Winchester. Oh how times did indeed change.

Before he was fully aware of his actions Castiel was stood at by his friends beside and was leaning closely above Dean, his own face bathed in the shadows of the night while the light from the open window that Dean had forgotten to close and draw the curtains across let in the weak moonlight which in turn covered Dean's face in a warm glow.

Castiel was just about to retreat from his position, thoughts running through his head of what Dean would say if he caught him looming above him like this, about how much he valued personal space and that that was right now being invaded by Cas when the hunter quickly and stealthily moved again, however his right hand managing to locate Castiel's tie that dangled between the two of them, and even in his sleep he quickly dragged the angel down, so that he was now positioned half covering Dean's form with his own, while the other half of his body had to lean on the bed to support himself and keep the weight off the man laid prone below him.

Castiel felt his breathing begin to speed up and his pulse start to beat even more erratically again at this closeness to his charge. He could feel Dean's firm body where it was pressed close to his own beneath him, his hand itched almost with a will of its own to place itself on the hips which his hands had grazed across earlier when he attended to his wounds, while his other hand started to move by itself to rest beside Dean's head, wanting to stroke through his soft hair. Castiel was startled by this at once, what was happening to him?

He was about to quickly move from the Winchester's prone form beneath his own despite the fact that his tie was still being tightly gripped in Dean's hands when the hunter moved once again, face only an inch apart from Castiel's as it was - he quickly closed the divide, lips ghosting over Castiel's which had already parted slightly in shock, they were so close to kissing, but yet not quite there.

It was during this time that Castiel had closed his eyes, all of his body humming in sensitivity, he could feel his breath mingling with Dean's for a very few short seconds before he heard the softly whispered voice that he could never confuse for another's calling to him.

"Cas."

At this his blue eyes automatically snapped open, the blown pupils changing back to normal almost automatically while the rest of his body froze as a fear so palpable arose within him. Dean had woken up. What would he think, finding Castiel above him like this? The very thought made Cas' stomach curl and knot in dread. It was a couple of moments before he took in Dean before him again, who had moved slightly away from him, he noted. He saw how his charges breathing was still deep, his eyes firmly closed and realized that surprisingly, Dean was actually still asleep. He had slept through everything, and would most likely not even be aware in the morning of what had nearly transpired between them barely moments ago.

It was in this moment that Dean rolled over, his grip on Castiel's tie loosened until he dropped it completely, allowing Cas the chance to quickly and stealthily step away from the bed until his back hit the wall behind him. His hand reaching up to his face, Castiel felt over his lips quickly, many emotions beginning to overtake him. He could still feel the heat of the other man's lips, so close to his own, if they had been slightly closer, had there just been that little bit of pressure, they would have truly kissed… Running his fingers over his lips still in shock, Castiel sneaked a glance at Dean again, but guilt swept in almost as soon as he looked at the man's face, and with it, his lips.

Castiel was unsure of what to do about the situation now. If he told Dean he knew the hunter would feel awkward, that he might even outwardly blame Castiel for it, all the while blaming himself for something that Cas knew he couldn't control. Castiel was also unsure of friendship with Dean. He felt like it was shifting slightly, into territory he didn't know, and which he didn't want to process right now. What he did want to do was deal with a situation at hand that he could truly deal with, and that's what sealed it for him.

Castiel quickly took flight, his wings embracing the air around him as he made his way into heaven. He didn't see Dean wake a few moment later, didn't see him match Castiel's movements, feeling his own lips for that phantom kiss that still lingered there. By the time Dean was out of bed Castiel had entered heaven. It was time for him to get speak to his brother and get some answers.

-SPN-

Castiel cloaked himself when he entered the Garden. He felt the strong urge to simply watch what would transpire here, knowing that it could reveal several things to him, as it was he could already feel Gabriel's presence deeply. The fact he was an Archangel – and a loud Archangel at that always made him easier to find than several of the other lower ranking or more sedate angels on the heavenly plane. Castiel moved slightly to the side to get a better vantage point for his view, all the while remaining hidden from others who most likely would not notice him if he remained still and silent, despite the fact that it was draining him a worrying amount to do something that had once been as easy for him to achieve as breathing was for humans.

Castiel watched from his part of the garden while Gabriel wandered around his, all the while calling for Joshua. Even Castiel had to admit, it was unsettling to be visiting the garden without the older angel present, as he was always found there. Something wasn't quite right with this situation.

Castiel immediately sensed the moment Gabriel acknowledged his presence; it was like a question between their graces, hanging there slightly before Gabriel pulled back, and turned around to face him. That was when Castiel uncloaked himself. There was no need to keep it up now, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to much longer despite how much he might want or need to anyway.

"Well then little brother, what brings you here?"

Castiel duly registered the look of shock on his elder brothers face before pulling up the last vestiges of strength he had remaining. It wouldn't do to appear weak to his brother now, not when he needed to be strong to get the answers he desired. He needed them not just for himself, but for Dean too, and by extension also for Sam. Who knew what could happen if they continued onwards into this battle blind? Had they not all learnt from the mistakes they had made during the fight to stop the apocalypse?

"A certain brother who isn't as dead as I was led to believe." Castiel replied, letting the words ring out across the garden, his eyes trained on the only other angel there, avidly watching for any sign that he'd discovered some detail of Gabriel's plan. However the more Castiel observed, the more he had to admit to himself that Gabriel's behaviour didn't add up. If he was hiding something he'd be joking or deflecting the attention to some other topic by now, namely onto Castiel but he wasn't. He was just standing there, looking at him, head moved to his left slightly, eyes questioning him silently, '_What are you talking about?'_ After what could have only been two earth minutes, but seemed like an eternity longer, Castiel finished with,

"Or you either it would seem."

The thought of that, that this brought them no closer to the still as of yet mysterious end goal in Gabriel's mind made Castiel sigh inwardly. He was just _so tired._ If only he could_ rest._ But Castiel knew he couldn't do that, once he gotten the answers though, then he'd rest, he'd sleep until his heart's content. Before then though he had to be strong, so he continued,

"Is there something you wish to explain to me Gabriel? Since you certainly haven't been telling me everything."

He then observed his brother once more and noticed how he seemed to be weighing up his options, so Castiel decided to show his brother an incentive; he took the spare angel blade from his trenchcoat pocket and threw it swiftly to Gabriel who caught it elegantly and then went straight to reading the name engraved there immediately.

"Balthazar. This is Balthazar's? That angel is dead, you saw him die in battle yourself." Gabriel concluded, but he did not return the angel blade to Castiel, instead he lifted his head to look him in the eye and asked, "Where did you get this? I'm not familiar with the circumstances of this angel's death, but I heard that the blade went with him. Surely you're not suggesting…?" Gabriel let the question hang there, wondering how his brother would answer him.

Castiel didn't take long to reply, "You and I both know that our Father brought both you and I back, what if he brought others back too? And if that was the case, why wouldn't he tell you about it, unless-"

"Unless he didn't want me to know about it, is that what you're suggesting Castiel?" The angel questioned. Castiel knew he was flying on dangerous ground here, taking into account his elder brothers new status in heaven.

"No, that is not what I am suggesting Gabriel. I am suggesting that the only other explanations that make sense would be unless someone else brought him back or he wasn't dead to begin with." Castiel finished, hoping and praying that the answer was neither, even though Balthazar was once the angel he trusted most and therefore 'cared for' most out of his brothers and sisters, to contemplate either idea would open up a whole new slew of possibilities and problems to add to their growing pile. As an afterthought the angel added, "Where is Joshua?"

"I don't know," The Archangel replied quickly, forehead creasing in consternation, "But he's _always_ here, in the garden. This worries me." He finished before taking a deep breath and coming to a conclusion. He knew he couldn't tell his brother _everything_, but he could provide him with enough information to get him off his trail and also keep him occupied, for the time being at least anyway.

"And as to your question regarding Balthazar, I have no idea about that either. There were whispers circulating in the ranks of the fledgling angels that he wasn't quite as dead as we were all led to believe, some have even claimed that they've felt his presence once." Before Castiel could interrupt, Gabriel hurried on to finish his point, "But that's all they were, whispers. This was some time ago though, before I could draw my own investigation and in response to that my own conclusions into the matter, other factors came into play and that subject was dropped." Gabriel finished, the bitterness in his mouth an aftereffect of the information he was about to share with his younger brother, and the damaging results that this information could have on his plans for him.

"What other factors brother?" Castiel asked, eyes serious as ever in his world weary vessel.

"Missing angels." Gabriel's reply came quickly, getting to the heart of the matter in two sentences flat.

"Who is missing? And how is that possible, who could even be behind it?" Castiel questioned in outrage, a frown marring his features. To take an angel against their will was a serious crime, and the action was believed to be going against God himself. The price for such a crime was steep, that had been demonstrated to all angels during Lucifer's rebellion.

"I believe that given the information I have now received from you regarding Balthazar that he is amongst those angels who have been taken. The rest, where he has been, whether or not he truly died to begin with is circumstantial right now. Rachel and Joshua are also missing; I can only presume that the likes of Virgil or some of the other angels working for Raphael have taken them to try and weaken my position." Gabriel concluded morosely.

"Raphael? You mean to say… does this mean that you are at war with him brother?" Castiel questioned, feeling a clenching sensation in his stomach at this new piece of information. He had been on the receiving end of this particular brother and his smiting before; he knew how unpredictable Raphael could be, especially when he couldn't have what he wanted.

"Mehhh, you say 'at war' like it's some great big bad battle when in actual fact it's nothing more than a little spat for me and Ralphie – however I must say this for him, he's gotten more petulant while I've been away." Gabriel concluded weakly, for it was no use, Castiel could see through him like a pane of glass, and could see that he was troubled. That in itself was worrying news; they'd all have to be very careful now.

"Do you think it's possible that Raphael is the person who is working with the demons that attacked me and Dean earlier?" Castiel asked sharply, as it then suddenly fell into place and started to make sense, that would explain why Crowley had been so sure of himself, why they'd been so brazen as to attack an angel _and _a seasoned hunter, a Winchester at that.

"I'm unsure, but either way that's enough for now baby brother, you need rest. And before you argue with me, remember, Archangel you're talking to." To demonstrate his point he flexed his wings, allowing them to be in full view fleetingly before tucking them silently away again, "And before you ask me, yes, Sasquatch is fine and dandy with living at my abode. I'm sure if you stick to your end of the bargain, him and boy toy will be reunited soon, so I think that's all there is to it now. And Castiel, be careful." He tacked the last sentence on the end like a half forgotten message he had to relay, but there was too much emphasis in the words for them to be taken as anything but serious. And with a snap of his fingers before he could be questioned about these matters even more than he already had been, Castiel was gone from his presence and Gabriel breathed heavily in the now overly empty garden.

-SPN-

When Castiel finally felt himself land after being whisked out of Heaven by his brother, he was surprised at the care the Archangel had put into making sure he landed softly. However when he noticed where he had been placed upon landing he groaned to himself, but had to quieten so as to not wake up Dean. He'd been gone from earth for longer than he'd thought, as he surmised it was early evening again, and his charge was currently sleeping in the bed closely beside him.

Castiel went to move off the bed but just couldn't bring himself to get up. His whole body ached, that last flight into heaven had really taken the air out of from under his wings so to speak, and everything had now accumulated to take its toll on him. Before the angel knew it he was already in a half sleep, and as he thought about where he and the hunter now stood in Gabriel's grand scheme of things, he slowly became less aware of their new problems, and more aware of the steady breathing of Dean beside him, and that filled him with a strange feeling of safeness. Whatever problems they had now, they would deal with them tomorrow.

Within five minutes of landing, the angel soundly slept.

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><p><strong>AN's: I hope you guys liked this chapter, it certainly took me to new places music wise while writing it, however I was unsure about most of the content in it, but my Muse pushed this idea and I just couldn't get it out of my head so I flew with it, whether or not to my peril I will let you all decide, but it certainly leaves me in an interesting place to write them all now!  
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**After next week updating regularly will be a little tricky for me due to my exams (I have eight days of hell coming up) which I desperately need to revise for, so I do apologize as I cant guarantee a regular update after that for at least a month, however you should at least get one update between that time, if not more (I tend to write and vid more under pressure, go figure) so just rest assured that I am in no way abandoning this story!  
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**I'd really love it if you guys could leave me a review, next chapter is already coming along nicely, I hope you enjoyed this chapter despite its faults, so until next time then! **

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	10. Chapter 10

**Any and all mistakes are my own, this is unbeta'd so any errors I apologize for.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, I'm only borrowing the characters for a bit for my own amusement, love to know what you think, and the title is only 'cause I couldn't think of one, therefore its subject to change sometime in the future.  
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**Warnings: References to torture, M/M pairing, possible future mpreg.**

****Note: Many thanks once more to silmarfan1 and Carmichaelcarr for being lovely and leaving me a review on the last chapter. They really make all the effort and late nights worth it, so here the new chapter is, hope you guys enjoy it! **  
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><p><strong><span>Chapter Ten - Tension<span>  
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The angel Castiel slept silent, peaceful dreams. He dreamt of nothing in particular, and it would have been quite the forgettable experience except for the fact that while he slept, he felt perpetually safe, and in sleep he also felt loved. That was why when Dean slowly awoke to the feel of warm breath tickling the fine hair on the back of his neck and a strong arm wrapped tightly and securely around his waist after having found purchase there, he didn't freak out. Ok, maybe he freaked out a little, but before he could do something dangerous and make a grab for the gun he kept under the pillow, or the one he also kept in the bedside table, he realized that if this was some demon come to kill him or take him away, they wouldn't be cuddling him like an octopus – all limbs. That left him with only one other option as to who his 'mysterious' bed buddy could be, and the feeling didn't make him fill with dread or weird him out quite as much as he would have expected, which was a revelation in its own right, but Dean didn't think about all that right now, his first port of call was to disentangle himself from the angel spooning him. Go figure he would be the little spoon in this situation, Dean thought as he chuckled wryly.

Dean slowly shifted, all the while very much aware of the arm over his waist, the feel of that all too familiar material against his stomach where his nightshirt had rode up in the night. Oddly enough the sensation soothed him, but he just put it down to familiarity. When he had turned so that he was lying flat on his back, Dean moved his head slowly to the right and stared straight into the silently sleeping face of Castiel. Even in sleep the angel's countenance wasn't entirely smoothed out, a frown was still slightly engrained on his features. This made Dean inwardly curse to himself. If anyone deserved peace, even if it was just in sleep, it was Castiel.

Thanking whoever was out there that neither of them had morning wood, as Dean knew that would only make matters all the more awkward when it came to him broaching the subject of how a certain angel landed in his bed in the first place, Dean slowly and sedately gripped the hand attached to the arm around his waist and gently moved it from himself as he edged from the bed, careful not to wake his friend. The fact that he was asleep at all surprised Dean. He knew as well as anyone that angels didn't sleep, so the fact that Castiel was doing so now was peculiar, to say the least. But more than that, it was worrying.

When he'd finally disentangled himself, Dean's gaze moved over his friend's comfortable form, admiring the way his muscles bunched slightly as he turned to roll over, the milky whiteness of his skin where a button had come undone on his shirt, the outline of his hips visible through the thin material, as his gaze moved lower… Dean snapped himself out of it then. No way was he checking out a dude, let alone an _angel _dude, his _best friend angel dude_.

"No way in hell." Dean muttered to himself as he made his way for the door, when his eyes landed on the handle and the object that he found there. It was Castiel's tie. Seeing that tie brought memories of the day before back to Dean's mind, of a certain dream he'd had but could only remember fragments of. Rushing from the room and not looking back, Dean couldn't help but run his fingers over his smooth lips, couldn't help but imagine what reality of that mouth on his would be like, how it'd feel to twist his fingers through Castiel's dark hair, bring their bodies closer together… Dean punched the wall closest to him at that point to try and stop the thoughts that had suddenly just popped up in his head uninvited, and all due to one stupid little dream. _'I'm not gay'_ one side of him argued, while the other side that sounded suspiciously like his Sammy countered back, _'Maybe it's not about being _gay_, maybe it's about the person. Maybe it's just about Castiel…'_

Dean groaned at the internal struggle going through his mind. No matter what, he would be leaving the analyzing for another time. As it was he had other, more important matters on his mind. He needed to talk to Castiel, and he needed to have his head in order when he did. The angel was hiding something from him, and Dean intended to find out what that something was, and to do that he had to remain focused. Anything else he could deal with later.

-SPN-

When Castiel woke up the first thing he experienced was shock as his eyes briefly took in his surroundings. Then the events of last night quickly returned to him and it caused him to groan loudly into the now slightly chilly bedroom. What must Dean have thought, waking up to find him lying beside him like this? Taking in the fact that the hunter hadn't woken him upon discovering the angel asleep beside him as a good sign, Castiel quickly got to his feet and ignored the small wave of nausea that flooded his vessel from being upright once again after so many hours of lying horizontal. This body wasn't used to sleep anymore, Castiel knew, and he never could quite comprehend why humans found sleeping for extended amounts of time enjoyable. Taking in his ruffled appearance and quickly fixing it to his usual dapper countenance, Castiel immediately glanced around the room for his tie and couldn't help but notice the empty, mussed up side of the bed as his eyes traveled across in that direction. For some reason this pulled at his chest. Thinking it to be an after effect of the slight dizziness, Castiel quickly gave up his search and flew down into the kitchen below where he had heard slight banging coming from during said search.

Standing quietly behind the human, Castiel muttered his name to get his attention and to also give him a slight warning of his arrival,

"Dean."

Castiel noticed how the hunters body had tensed at Castiel's voice before easing slightly within seconds, instead of turning around however Dean stood stock still for a moment before replying,

"I was just about to call you. Pull up a chair Cas."

When the angel had sat in the seat closest to where the hunter was at the counter, Dean quickly grabbed a plate and set it down in front of his friend which contained all the ingredients of a traditional greasy fry up. Not the type of thing Dean would usually cook if Sammy were around, but something which he knew how to make well after numerous years of cooking for his brother, and occasionally for his father too. Taking a seat opposite the angel, he dug into his breakfast with the speed and gusto of a man who hadn't eaten in weeks. Dean was truly famished. They managed to get along in companionable silence for several minutes before that silence was quietly broken by a question from the angel.

"When I woke up this morning, I was unable to find my tie, have you seen it Dean?" He asked, but as he lifted his eyes from his plate his gaze landed on Dean's face, and he couldn't help but notice how his charge was avoiding looking him in the eye at all costs.

Castiel continued to do what he did best when it came to Dean, and that was to watch each subtle movement which would help him be a guide as to what the man could be thinking. Studying Dean had been one of his favorite past times for some time now, as he never failed to surprise the angel in some way or another.

Right at that moment Dean was preparing himself to look his best friend in the eye – this being the first time they had spoken since his dream. He didn't want anything to be weird. Licking his lips before he spoke, Dean didn't notice how Castiel's eyes followed this motion, watched as his pink tongue darted out across his bottom lip.

It was only when Dean cleared his throat meaningfully that the angels eyes were pulled from Dean's mouth to rest at his hand which was bridging the way across the table, and holding out his tie loosely in the palm of his hand.

Dean was still looking away from him when Cas went to retrieve his tie from his hand, but he was caught up short when Dean quickly and unexpectedly spoke out, "We need to talk, and now's as good a place as any to do that."

Castiel drew his arm back at that, tie in hand, and noticed how Dean went to run his fingers slightly over his lips now with the fingers of his free hand. Worry suddenly welled up inside Castiel. Dean had said that they needed to talk, did that mean that he remembered the almost kiss that had occurred between them?

Clearing his throat and looking the angel come best friend across from him in the eyes, Dean fought to keep his mind business-like, and his tone similar.

"You disappeared on me for over a day man, and no matter how much I called you didn't reply, or even send me some sign that everything was ok. Then when I wake up it's to find you in some kind of deeply needed sleep beside me. No lies here man, there's something you're not telling me and I need to know what it is so we can deal with it. Together. Now tell me Cas, what's really going on?"

Castiel outwardly sighed to make Dean believe that he was unhappy at the hunter's conclusions, but inside he couldn't be more pleased. Dean not knowing what had happened between them made things so much easier and it also meant that they could get along with Gabriel's wishes without any tension between them. He was unsure still as to why it was such a big deal that Dean didn't find out, after all he'd rebuilt the man, almost from scratch, he knew him more intimately than other woman, understood him and his feelings about hell better than anyone else, and they'd shared a great deal many experiences together. But something inside of him told him that if Dean was fully aware of the events that had transpired, something would change between them, and even though he was an angel, he wasn't fully sure he was ready for such an event as of yet. Dean was the only constant he could rely on in his life right now, and if he lost that, he was unsure what would happen next, and as an angel, such instability was an ominous force indeed.

Thinking on what was safe to tell Dean, Castiel ventured into the conversation guardedly, "The angel blade you asked me about, it belonged to an old comrade of mine, Balthazar." Seeing Dean's blank expression at the new information, he continued, "He supposedly died the true death of an angel,but if that was the case demons wouldn't have had his blade. Due to the discrepancy in what I knew as fact and what appears to be reality, I went to heaven to have a discussion with Gabriel about what really is the truth of the matter."

Dean cut in then, "And that took you over a day because? Seriously man, you had me worried there."

Avoiding the easy comparison to hell he could make, Castiel continued, "Time moves differently in heaven, and we had many matters to discuss," Seeing Dean was about to break into the conversation again Castiel swiftly continued, "He told me that he has a competitor in heaven. Raphael wants to be 'the new sheriff in town', as I believe you would put it." The angel bit out disdainfully, making his opinion on that particular brother clear enough to interpret to anyone listening. Dean himself knew of Castiel's low opinion of the Archangel, and couldn't really blame him for it either.

"Well I'm sure Gabriel will beat that ass-hat in whatever hissy fit it is their having, but tell me truthfully, is it really that serious?" Dean asked, looking to the angel for conformation on his thoughts.

"Other angels have gone missing in heaven. If it's not as serious as you suspect now, then it soon will be." The angel wagered, thinking on why Raphael would have wanted to take Rachel, Joshua and Balthazar, and what purpose they could play to him.

Letting Dean think on that, he quickly spoke once more to relay some information that would soothe the hunter, even if it would only be slightly, "Gabriel also informed me on how Sam is doing Dean. He is fine."

"How do you know that that douche isn't just lying to make both of us continue to do his bidding?" Dean prodded back, still unwilling to believe that his brother was safe – Dean still remembered what Sam had relayed to him, how the Trickster had forced his brother to watch him die continuously over and over, and the battle it had taken to return to him and eventually be allowed to save him after so long failing to do just that.

"Regardless of what you may or may not believe Dean, I know my brother. He wasn't lying, his grace was clear of that." Castiel finished, his tone not allowing any arguments on the matter. He was just about to leave the room thankful that the inquisition was over when he heard Dean call,

"Why were you asleep this morning Cas?" As astute as ever, Dean knew that Cas was holding something back from him, he'd had practice of doing just the same thing with Sammy so he could see the signs when the same behavior was being done back to him alright.

Without turning around to face Dean, Castiel's voice bit out in its gravelly tones, "That last battle took a lot of energy from me Dean, coupled with having to fly into heaven and the fact that I only re-attained my grace a short while ago, my vessel still has the need to heal the human way also, at least for now." The angel finished, hoping the elder Winchester would accept his explanation into this matter.

When Castiel continued to make his move towards Bobby's study, Dean himself went outside to work on the Impala – the events of a couple days before had given Dean this irrational fear that the things that he most cared about were unsafe, top of that list of course was Sam, but knowing that he was with Gabriel helped calm that fear somewhat, creepy enough as it was. And of course there was his Impala too, but before he could check and work on his baby, he had wanted to hear from Cas, check he was ok, reach out and be sure… And that's where Dean left that train of thought. It was normal to care about people, and of course he cared about Castiel, he was his best friend, so of course he would worry about him. That was all, right?

-SPN-

It was early evening when Dean eventually made his way back into Bobby's house. Wiping his hands on the greasy rag he'd used when working on his baby, Dean dumped it in the sink before calling out for his friend,

"Cas?"

However upon receiving no answer he continued up the narrow stairs and stepped lightly into the spare bedroom he had been occupying as of late only to see the angel fast asleep on the double bed once more. This time he was sans trenchcoat and dress shoes, but Dean frowned when he saw him shiver slightly due to the small bite of chilliness that was seeping into the evenings. No matter what he said, Dean was sure that wasn't normal for angels, but he quickly made his way across the room and pulled the duvet up from the bottom of the bed over his friend, intent to let the matter rest for now. His eyes lingered on the angels face to see that he was still slightly tense, and almost with a mind of its own his hand gently brushed the dark mop of hair away from Castiel's forehead.

When he realized what he'd done Dean's face contorted into an almost humorous look of horror while his mind told him, "He's your _friend_, get your act together and treat him like one, and _nothing else_" in a voice that this time sounded suspiciously like his fathers.

When he'd made his way downstairs again, Dean paced back and forth for a while before he felt the familiar tiredness seeping into his bones. He was still exhausted from the fight with the demons, so he quietly led down on the sofa, rolled over onto his side and greeting it like an old friend, and after a while of thinking Dean's mind finally let his body shut down and sleep.

It wasn't long after drifting off into sleep that the dreams began again…

"_Dean, Dean, Dean, oh you're always so pretty. I can already tell that you'll make such an excellent student." Alastair murmured as he ran the blade down from the corner of Dean's eye to his jawline, a thin line of blood blooming in its wake of the journey._

"_Never, you sick son of a bitch" Dean spat out, knowing that if he continued like that, he soon wouldn't have a tongue to speak with._

_Alastair stabbed him in the ribs viciously, twisting the blade round fully before hissing out angrily, "It's been twenty-nine years Dean, nobody is coming for you, so I don't know why you don't just give in, but you will. I've got one more card up my sleeve yet" He finished before reaching for the acid solution, so that soon Dean's screams would join the others on the rack once more ,their screams singing out in unison…_

Dean snapped awake at that, groaning to himself slightly before opening his eyes – and jumping back as far as he could against the sofa before his heart began to slow as he recognized Castiel in the dim, early morning light. Breathing in and out heavily, he managed to weakly get out,

"What are you doing Cas?"

"I felt your disturbance; I came to check on you." The angel replied as quietly as the hunter he was speaking to.

Dean was very much aware of the hand on his arm before he moved to stand up, the hand falling off of him in the process.

"I'm fine man, just a bad dream, go back to sleep. I know I will be in a minute." And even as he said those words Dean knew it was a lie.

If his unconscious kept insisting on shoving these remnants from hell onto him then he would battle back twice as hard the only way that he could. He just wouldn't sleep, he managed to go without it before, he had had to once before back in the time before he went to hell to avoid that psycho from getting him. And naturally in the hunters profession sleep was a pipe dream more often than not anyway. Yes he'd managed to keep himself awake once before. He could do it again.

"Go back up Cas, seriously I'm fine." Dean finished, and he waited until he heard the tentative steps on the stairs before going to the coffee machine and turning it on. Boy, was it going to be a rough couple of nights ahead.

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><p><strong>AN's: Ok so were finally at double didgets here! Very much happy and excited about that, as I'm sure you can all tell! Unfortunately for now I'll have to leave you guys, at least until my exams are over, but never fear the other chapter is all planned and plotted, and I will be back!  
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**(Also upon my return, I may or may not have started the new Dean/Castiel Season 7 based fic I have in mind, if I have I'll let you guys know when I start posting that one, as if you like this one, then I'm sure you'll like that one too)  
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**But in the meantime if you wonderful readers could spare a moment to leave me a review, it would really make my day, and I hope you all enjoyed this, so until next time! :)  
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